This time, it didn’t go so well in Berlin: Italy have been knocked out of EURO 2024. At the Olympiastadion, where the Azzurri became World Champions 18 years ago, Switzerland ran out 2-0 winners to deservedly progress to the quarter-finals, where they’ll face either England or Slovakia on Saturday 6 July in Dusseldorf. Italy, meanwhile, were below par on an afternoon where a Vargas goal doubled the Swiss’ advantage just 27 seconds into the second half after Bologna midfielder Remo Freuler had opened the scoring on the 37-minute mark.

“The goal at the start of the second half knocked the confidence out of us,” said Luciano Spalletti. “Even if we were in their half, we lacked a cutting edge. What made the difference was the tempo; we were too slow compared to them. We also didn’t match them on an individual level and in terms of pairs. Beyond quality, tempo and sharpness make the difference. A greater spirit of sacrifice is also needed: there were several who didn’t go that extra metre or centimetre. We didn’t come into these Euros in brilliant condition. I think there’s the opportunity to build something, but it’ll take more time. We need to go out and find the characteristics in players that we’ve seen we’re missing.”

THE MATCH. Compared to Croatia vs. Italy, Spalletti returned to a four-man defence. The Head Coach, who was without the suspended Calafiori (Widmer was also unavailable for Switzerland due to suspension) and the injured Dimarco, made six changes to his starting line-up, with Mancini making his EURO 2024 debut in defence and El Shaarawy selected on the left of an attack that also featured Chiesa and Scamacca. Switzerland made a bright start, with Ndoye and Aebischer making a nuisance of themselves down the left flank, but Donnarumma’s goal wasn’t initially threatened. That was until the 23rd minute, when Embolo, who had been kept onside by Darmian, found himself one on one with the Azzurri goalkeeper, who produced a brilliant stop to keep the game level.

Italy responded through Chiesa, whose right-footed effort was put behind for a corner by Akanji. Rodriguez then shot over (32’) for a Swiss side who were controlling play and who, five minutes later, took the lead through a left-footed effort from Freuler that deflected off Mancini on its way into the net. Just before half-time, Donnarumma managed to tip a dangerous Rieder free-kick onto the post.

Spalletti sent on Zaccagni for El Shaarawy at half-time, but Switzerland doubled their lead just 27 seconds into the half through Vargas, who, like Freuler before him, was left in space to fire home. A huge blow. In the 52nd minute, Schär narrowly avoided scoring an own goal as he headed a Fagioli cross against the post. Spalletti made the decision to play with two strikers, replacing Barella with Retegui, who went to partner Scamacca up front. The Genoa attacker had a go on the 73-minute mark, but it was straight at Sommer. Soon after, Italy hit the woodwork for the second time: Zaccagni flicked on a Cristante ball over the top, and Scamacca was unlucky with his finish. Cambiaso (for Darmian), Pellegrini (for Cristante) and Frattesi (for Fagioli) all came on in the closing stages, but Italy’s fate was already sealed.

Gigio Donnarumma was also disappointed: “It’s a defeat that really hurts, and we apologise to everyone. I’m disappointed, but Switzerland deserved it. We struggled: in the first half, we lost the ball too easily and left too many spaces. We were missing a bit of courage and quality. They dominated possession in the opening 45 and we wanted to start the second half well, but we conceded straight away.” For the Azzurri, EURO 2024 is over.

SWITZERLAND 2-0 ITALY

SWITZERLAND (3-4-3): Sommer; Schär, Akanji, Rodriguez; Aebischer (92' Steffen), Freuler, Xhaka, Rieder (70' Stergiou); Vargas (70' Zuber), Embolo (77' Duah), Ndoye (77' Sierro). Substitutes: Mvogo, Kobel, Elvedi, Zakaria, Okafor, Zesiger, Shaqiri, Jashari, Amdoui. Head Coach: Yakin

ITALY (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Darmian (75' Cambiaso); Cristante (75' Pellegrini), Fagioli (87' Frattesi), Barella (63' Retegui); Chiesa, Scamacca, El Shaarawy (46' Zaccagni). Substitutes: Vicario, Meret, Dimarco, Buongiorno, Gatti, Jorginho, Raspadori, Bellanova, Folorunsho. Head Coach: Spalletti

Goalscorers: 37' Freuler, 46' Vargas

Referee: Marciniak (Poland). Assistant: Listkiewicz-Kupsik (Poland). Fourth official: Tello (Argentina)

Note: Barella (I), El Shaarawy (I), Mancini (I) booked