As Italy gear up for their final group stage match of EURO 2024, reports suggest that CT Luciano Spalletti could be set to make a series of personnel changes ahead of the decisive clash with Croatia on Monday evening.
The national team were defeated 1-0 by Spain in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday, which came after a 2-1 victory over Albania in the opener in Dortmund.
Though the Azzurri are still in a strong position to qualify for the knock-out rounds, there were a handful of players who were subject to individual criticism after the Spain loss, particularly Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Which four players could come out of the Italy line-up
The Partenopei full-back is one of four players who are at risk of being replaced for the Croatia match, according to multiple outlets in Italy. He could be switched out for Inter defender Matteo Darmian, who took part in the press conferences on Saturday.
Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori and Federico Dimarco are likely to keep their positions in the starting line-up, which is still expected to feature a back four.
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho is another who could take a step out of the starting line-up for the Croatia game. Both Bryan Cristante, who came on as a second half substitute against Spain, and Juventus’s Nicolo Fagioli are in contention to start alongside Nicolo Barella in the middle of the park.
Some suggest that both Cristante and Fagioli could start against Croatia, which would likely mean Davide Frattesi also being dropped from the starting XI.
Finally, there could be an centre-forward role as Mateo Retegui has been suggested as an alternative for Atalanta’s Gianluca Scamacca, who is yet to find the net at EURO 2024.
Scamacca not good, spaletti regret not bring orsolini