Fresh from the defeat against England, tomorrow night (20:45 CET, live on Rai 1) at the National Stadium in Ta' Qali, the national team will be looking for a quick redemption and, above all, their first points in the group stage. True, the path towards EURO 2024 has just begun, but another stumble would risk jeopardising qualification. With Malta relegated to 167th place in the FIFA Ranking, Italy boasts a record of eight wins in as many matches, with 21 goals scored and only two conceded.

However, the last meeting on September 2015 (a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Graziano Pellè's second-half winner) recommends to not underestimate the national team led by Michele Marcolini, the former Chievo Verona player who replaced another Italian coach, Devis Mangia, on the bench in December and who compares the challenge with the Azzurri to 'an Everest to be climbed'. Fresh from an honourable defeat (2-1, but a 0-0 stalemate for over an hour) in North Macedonia, the Maltese national team will take the field with the stress-free mindset of those who have nothing to lose.

"I expect a difficult match," warned Roberto Mancini in his press conference, "all these matches are and if you don't manage to take the lead early then you may encounter a bit of difficulty. Malta is a team that has changed a lot, with Mangia they have evolved technically. They have improved a lot, they know how to defend well and they counter-attack well. The right-back is very good, as is their left half-back. But it will depend a lot on us." The coach then returned to the game in Naples: "After so many games against England, we could have done with a defeat. Tomorrow, we want to be what we were against England in the second half, partly also in the first half, trying to be more accurate in front of goal and more careful in some situations".

With two matches in four days, it is unavoidable to imagine some changes to the starting eleven: "Due to fatigue, we will change several players," announced the coach, not excluding that Retegui could play again from the first minute: "He deserves a spot, but like others, he has to be assessed on a physical level. Tomorrow we will decide. We have been following him for a long time and maybe we did not see it wrong since several Italian clubs are also following him. He is a young guy, smart, he wants to become a great striker. He had some difficulties on Thursday night, but then he scored a difficult goal. He can improve a lot in the coming months. Tonali and Cristante? They can be involved in the game".

Next to the coach in the press room is the Roma midfielder. On Thursday in Naples, he came on in the last half-hour, bringing the usual shape and demonstrating that he is a player who is perhaps not very flashy but always useful to the cause: "We started with a defeat, we could have taken the game against England differently, but we were also close to drawing it. I honestly didn't see this big gap". Mancini has often used it to change games in the second half, as had also happened in the Wembley final: "If I start I am happy, if I come on during the game I am equally happy. We cannot afford any more mistakes. We have to take the field to win, no ifs or buts. We have seen some footage, Malta is an organised national team and, like all games, it will be difficult. We know we are the better side, but we have to prove it on the pitch".