After cruising past Luxembourg, Italy U21 are ready for the next big test as they take on Sweden in qualifying for Euro 2023. There are still 180 minutes of football to be played and leaders Italy take on their two closest rivals tomorrow in Helsingborg, with the hosts in third three points behind the Azzurrini, and then Ireland in Ascoli on Tuesday (the Boys in Green are second, one point behind Italy). Paolo Nicolato’s men, however, have a game in hand.

But it’s too soon to be making calculations. The Italy coach certainly isn’t and is concentrating on making sure his team is fully focused on the task at hand. This group is composed and has come through a lot of adversity through various absences, and also due to a lack of gametime in club football.

 “I don’t know if we will have total control of the game tomorrow,” Nicolato said. “We’re not in the best of shape right now, so we’ll need a little bit of luck. Sweden are a good team and play positional football. They have good wingers and attacking full-backs. They’re well-coached and are very fit, which is common in northern Europe. They are – tactically speaking – probably the toughest opponents in our group; even in their two defeats to Ireland, they controlled the game and just got a bit unlucky.”

In the reverse fixture in Monza, the Azzurrini, after taking the lead in the first half through Lorenzo Lucca, conceded a late equaliser to Tim Prica – a real hammer blow. “I like the way Sweden play,” Nicolato continued. “They are maybe fitter than us because the Swedish league has just started. We had a game the other day and have had to travel. We have a lot of players that probably haven’t recovered 100%. We will need to make some changes; it won’t be easy to win.”

On the topic of absences, Nicolato is without his starting goalkeeper and team captain Carnesecchi, who sustained an injury in training yesterday. A substitute keeper has not yet been named. Samuele Ricci, meanwhile, will wear the captain’s armband. The coach will likely return to the 4-3-3 system and looks set to hand a start to Pietro Pellegri, who scored his first goal for the Under-21 in the game against Luxembourg. “We’ll need to understand how balanced this game is. Pellegri is a good player, who needs to aim to become our starting striker because his quality is undeniable. His problem is that he hasn’t been able to work a lot in recent years. He has had a lot of issues that are holding him back and he hasn’t been able to find consistent gametime.”