Milan, Bari, Roma. Three home games, three home wins for Luciano Spalletti who, following wins over Ukraine and Malta, doesn't have much time to enjoy the 5-2 thrashing of North Macedonia. It's a precious result, which provides the Azzurri two results out of a possible three on Monday night to qualify for Euro 2024. Three days ahead of the clash in Leverkusen, it is now important to recover and prepare for the final test in this qualifying campaign: "We played well for the whole 90 minutes," said the gaffer. "It can happen that when the game looks dead and buried you drop off a little and fight less for the ball. The second goal could have messed us up psychologically, but our reaction was excellent and should be highlighted. We have the quality to create chances in front of goal, and this evening we made a notable step forward in that respect."

“The best part of this match regards the second half performance, which I prefered more than the first," he added in the press conference afterwards. "We saw the best of ourselves after they had scored the second goal. These are the type of games that reveal the character of a team; after they pegged us back to 3-2 I expected we might have to dig in and suffer a little, but instead we pushed them back, gaining meters up the pitch and turned the situation around. Regardless of the goals, which are always nice, we made lots of other good chances."

No issues also with the missed penalty by Jorginho, with Spalletti saying only yesterday in the game's pre-match press conference that he would expect the Arsenal midfielder to take a penalty should the chance arise, despite his previous errors from the spot, including one at the Olimpico in a World Cup qualifier with Switzerland two years ago: “The goalkeeper did brilliantly. Jorginho played well and still remains a penalty-kick specialist for Italy. He will take the next one." After comparing him to Sinner, the Head Coach praised Federico Chiesa's performance: “He has these flashes, these bursts where he motors away and causes tremors: when he has it in his mind to get past a man, he does it using not only technique but also his physique." His substitution after the break was to keep him fresh for the game with Ukraine on Monday: “He took a whack at the start of the game and I was a little worried. I wanted to take him off knowing that the result was in our hands, but he's fine."

After injuries had kept him out of the games in September and October, on his first appearance in the Spalletti era, Federico Chiesa showed why he deserved the words expressed by the Head Coach on the eve of the game. His two great goals were vital for heading into Monday's decisive fixture: “The most important thing was to win this game. In the second half, we undeservedly conceded twice," the wideman said. "But we showed though that we wanted to dominate the play and ultimately deserved to win. Now, we fight for qualification with Ukraine."

A goal chalked off in the first half, but a good one after the break: Giacomo Raspadori was back on the scoresheet for the National side, after 14 months since his last one against Hungary, in the stadium where he grabbed his first-ever Serie A goal in July 2020, against Lazio: “We're expecting a proper head-to-head clash so we need to recover well. We going to prepare to win it. This victory gives us enthusiasm to keep on working, following a great performance; we were superb in the first half and we need to start back up from there."

His first, and only goal, for the National side for Matteo Darmian came eight years ago in Azerbaijan. This evening, he only needed 17 minutes to open the scoring: “We started off the game in the right way, and regardless of me getting the goal, it aas important to break the deadlock as soon as possible. We managed to do that quickly, went three up and should've probably managed the game better after the break. But we reacted and were able to seal the result in the end. It was important to win, we did and now have two days to prepare as best as possible for Monday's game. We'll be going out there to bring home all three points."

Celebrations also for El Shaarawy, on his home ground. Coming on towards the end of the game, as he has so often done with Roma, he showed once again how precious he is even for just a few final minutes: “Out wide on the left is where I've played the most. In recent years under Mourinho, I've played a bit further back and more conservative, even though I tend to try and go forward. In this formation, I'm closer to the goal and have more chance to score. It's very satisfying. This is a great group of lads, there's no craziness around. Everyone is following the Head Coach and there's lots of quality around, both from those who play and those who don't. We all have the right mentality to make the difference."

Now, the focus turns to Ukraine, a game that is equivalent to a final: "This win doesn't leave us relaxed. We're in a strong position, but we must face every game with the right spirit. If you give just an inch then you can concede two goals, like we saw this evening. We'll need to have the right determination, because everything is still at stake and things can change in an instant."