At Wembley, Italy were unable to recreate the ‘Notte Magica’ of 11 months ago, where the hands of Donnarumma saved the last penalty of Saka to send the whole of the country into raptures. The match between the champions of Europe and the winners of the last Copa América went to Messi’s Argentina winning 3-0 with goals by Lautaro Martinez, Di Maria and Dybala. Thanks to their stars under the London skies, this trophy takes them to 32 matches undefeated. On the night of Giorgio Chiellini’s farewell to the national team, the Azzurri competed for the first 30 minutes before caving in to their opponents who wowed and entertained the 90,000 fans present, and who showed themselves to be serious contenders for the forthcoming World Cup, one where Italy will only sit and watch.

THE MATCH. For the Finalissima, Mancini called upon eleven European Champions, selecting seven of the eleven that started the final against England on July 11 last year. Absentees were the injured Chiesa and Immobile, and Insigne, who missed the final training session, alongside Berardi, forcing the head coach to replace the front three with Belotti, Bernadeschi and Raspadori instead. In centre midfield, Pessina replaced Verratti - also on the sidelines - whilst the rest were the same team that played out the EURO 2020 final, with Chiellini partnering for the final time with his battled hardened friend and defensive companion Bonucci. And on his final night, he was asked to face one of the toughest opponents in football, Lionel Messi. But if Maradona, honoured before the match, was “Mr. Argentina”, Messi certainly doesn’t do it all alone. Argentina head coach Scaloni has various strings to his bow, such as Di Maria and Inter’s Lautaro Martínez. Serie A was also represented well through ex-Atalanta defender Romero, as well De Paul and Molina, previously and currently of Udinese, respectively. There was also Dybala, but he found himself on the subs bench alongside Papu Gómez.

The Albiceleste started strongly. The first shot of the game came after just two minutes: Di Maria spotted Donnarumma off his line and tried to surprise him with a shot from midfield but it was off target. Argentina more often than not looked to find Messi, who dropped deep to receive the ball while pressed by three or four men in blue shirts. That would not be enough. In the twelfth minute, Italy had their first attempt through Raspadori, who received the ball from Jorginho and let fly on the spin. Martínez got down to his left to make the save. Bonucci then picked out Bernardeschi in the box but Romero cut out the Azzurri number 10’s low ball across the face of goal, which was intended for Belotti. Argentina then took the lead in the 28th minute: Messi turned Di Lorenzo and fed Lautaro for a tap-in to make it 1-0. The Argentina fans were celebrating, while the Azzurri players protested for a foul on Bernardeschi in the build-up. Scaloni’s side showed that their run of 31 games without defeat was no accident and put all of their stars on show. Lautaro and Di Maria combined late in the half as Argentina doubled their lead. The Inter forward escaped from Bonucci - who had already been booked earlier in the half - and fed the PSG winger in behind the Italy defence. Di Maria sped past Chiellini and produced a delightful dink to beat an onrushing Donnarumma. Giorgio Chiellini’s final game in the Italy blue concluded after 45 minutes as he was replaced by Lazzari to start the second half. Belotti and Bernardeschi also came off at the break, to be replaced by Scamacca and Locatelli respectively. In the 63rd minute, Spinazzola came on for his first Italy appearance since that injury in the EURO 2020 quarter-final, replacing Spinazzola as the system changed to a 3-5-2. But against Messi in such imperious form, the change of formation was to bring no rewards.

In the 57th minute, the Azzurri risked conceding an embarrassing third from a misplaced back pass from Bonucci, though Donnarumma managed to scramble to his right and clear the ball off the goalline. Moments later, the PSG shot-stopper twice denied club teammate Di Maria. Italy were on the ropes and Messi seemed to be a step ahead of anybody else on the pitch. He first fed Lo Celso, who fired wide, and then tested Donnarumma on three occasions, all of which Gigio saved spectacularly. Substitute Paulo Dybala sealed Argentina’s win deep into injury time, profiting from yet another piece of magic from Messi to make it 3-0.

We turn a new leaf from tomorrow with Italy set to name a new-look team for their four upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures. First up is a tasty clash with Germany in Bologna, in which Mancini will look at some of the youngsters. We must start again without Giorgio Chiellini, an Italy captain who will forever remain in our hearts.