Italy are ready for another test, with Lithuania the next obstacle that the team will be looking to overcome. After sailing through their European Championship qualifying campaign and reaching the Final Four of the UEFA Nations League, the Azzurri have begun their journey to Qatar 2022 with two 2-0 victories against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria. Tomorrow evening, they’ll take to the pitch in Vilnius (kick-off at 20:45 CEST) to play their third group match. The hope is their winning run will continue.

In his press conference on the eve of the match, Roberto Mancini had the following to say: “We’re not used to playing on pitches like this one, so it could pose problems. But difficulties could also arise from having to face a team like Lithuania, who put men behind the ball and don’t allow the opposition much space.”

Italy are unbeaten in 24 games (19 wins and five draws), just one behind Marcello Lippi’s Azzurri side, who went 25 matches without defeat between 2004 and 2006. The absolute record, meanwhile, belongs to Vittorio Pozzo’s Italy team, who didn’t lose in 30 games between 1935 and 1939. However, the Head Coach isn’t getting carried away with these numbers and is fully focused on tomorrow’s showdown: “Lithuania are a very physical side and defend well, plus they’re playing at home. Switzerland had many chances against them but only won 1-0, which is proof that every single game is difficult, especially the next one. We’ll be playing our third fixture within a very short time frame and have done a lot of travelling. Picking up nine points would be excellent.”

Mancini will be without Alessandro Florenzi and Marco Verratti for the upcoming clash, with the duo having left the camp this morning. The former was suffering from muscle fatigue and, as a precaution, won’t be travelling to Lithuania, while the latter picked up a left thigh injury during Sunday’s match against Bulgaria. This follows on from the news that Freiburg striker Vincenzo Grifo won’t be available for the showdown in Vilnius due to current restrictions for those entering Germany from Lithuania. The Head Coach had little to say about the Azzurri’s possible line-up but didn’t exclude the possibility that Rafael Toloi could make his Italy debut: “He could play, he’s been with us for a week and we’ve got to know each other better.”

Mancini, who is top of the Italy Head Coach ranking after 29 games thanks to a 67-point haul, is assessing various options: “Playing with a false 9 is an idea, but we’re evaluating the conditions of Immonile and Belotti, we’ll see how they’re doing after training tomorrow morning. The same applies to Insigne, who has played two full and tiring games. Chiesa could take to the pitch, he’s in good shape and sparks fear in opponents, who always mark him with two men. He struggled a bit last time out because of this, but he’s a very important player for us.”

As for Manuel Locatelli, he’s still processing the fact that he managed to score his first Italy goal against Bulgaria: “We often take these situations for granted,” the Azzurri midfielder explained. “However, it’s not easy for those who really feel it: it’ll take me a while to really digest what happened. It’s a dream that I’ve had since I was a child and will remain in my heart forever. I’ve received a lot of messages and many compliments, and it’s been wonderful. We’ll be coming up against Lithuania tomorrow. The Head Coach asks us to win and play well, and it’s normal when we do this because we’re a strong side. We need to show that we’re exactly this every single game.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Gian Marco Ferrari (Sassuolo), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Matteo Ricci (Spezia), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Roberto Soriano (Bologna);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli).

Schedule

Tuesday 30 March
10:45 – Departure from Sofia to Vilnius
16:30 – Press conference – Lithuania (LFF Stadium, Vilnius)
17:00 – Training – Lithuania (first 15 minutes open to the press) (LFF Stadium, Vilnius)
17:30 – Press conference – ITALY (LFF Stadium, Vilnius)
18:00 – Training – ITALY (first 15 minutes open to the press) (LFF Stadium, Vilnius)
Wednesday 31 March
20:45 – Lithuania vs. ITALY (LFF Stadium, Vilnius). Post-match press conference followed by a return to respective clubs