Donnarumma captains Italy for the fifth time

PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma captains Italy for the fifth time when Italy face Malta in this evening’s EURO 2024 qualifier.

It kicks off at the National Stadium in Ta’Qali at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.

The pressure is already on the Azzurri to deliver after they opened their campaign with a defeat for the first time since 1974, losing 2-1 at home to England.

Leonardo Bonucci is injured and Marco Verratti left on the bench, as Roberto Mancini makes eight changes from the side that played on Thursday.

That means the next player with the most caps in the starting XI is Donnarumma, who therefore wears the captain’s armband.

It is the fifth time he has been the one to lead out his team, as the others were all in the Nations League.

Those games were against Belgium in October 2021, Hungary, England and Germany all in June 2022.