Giacomo Bonaventura became the oldest Italy player to ever score his debut goal last month and acknowledges Fiorentina revitalised his career after difficulties at Milan.
The Azzurri face the final two crunch EURO 2024 qualifiers and need at least four points to guarantee qualification against North Macedonia in Rome on Friday, then Ukraine in Leverkusen on Monday.
“These are two very important matches, they will not be easy,” Bonaventura told RAI Sport.
“When you know that you absolutely have to win, that puts the pressure on and we are doing everything we can to prepare for great performances.
“It will be important to start strong and send a signal with North Macedonia. This is not a team that sits back and defends, they try to play good football.”
Bonaventura made his Italy debut over a decade ago, but only scored his first goal in last month’s win over Malta.
His career had seemed to be petering out after Milan let him leave as a free agent, yet he has been revitalised by Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina, who also play in a 4-3-3 formation.
“Italiano’s style of football is suited to my characteristics. When someone has faith in you, it all becomes easier. I was happy at Milan, but if I was unable to express myself the way I am now, then it was also partly my own fault. I matured a little late in my career.”
It was reported that Bonaventura felt let down when Milan handed the captain’s armband to newcomer Leonardo Bonucci.
“There were a lot of changes and when you don’t have stability, it can be difficult. Fortunately, Fiorentina have far more stability to build on.
“My style of football has changed too, there was less pressing when I was young, but now Fiorentina like to keep possession and push forward. Football changes over time and we must adapt.
“The support of the midfielders is important to support the strikers and push up into space, so we can get shots away too. At times, the wingers stay wide and so we need to attack the space between the centre-backs and their full-backs.”
Spalletti shares similar tactical ideas to Italiano, though the first few games showed only glimpses of what they want to achieve.
“The coach wants us to be compact and close together, so we can recover the ball and immediately go on the attack. We rewatched the defeat to England, he underlined what we did right and wrong.
“The higher the line, the more opportunities we can create and the more dangerous we can be.”
With the need to get four points from these two games to qualify and avoid the play-offs, Spalletti said a bit of fear can be healthy to motivate the players.
“We mustn’t put too much pressure, fear or worry onto our shoulders,” insisted Bonaventura.
“On the field, you have to make decisions quickly, and that only goes well when you have a clear head. Experience also brings responsibility and it makes you stronger.”