Italy CT Roberto Mancini admits Spain deserved to beat Italy: ‘We prepared a different type of game.’
The Azzurri suffered a 2-1 loss in the Nations League semis against La Roja.
“Spain scored right at the end, but overall they played better than we did. We prepared a different type of game, but didn’t manage much of what we planned,” Mancini told RAI Sport after the final whistle.
Mancini was asked why he replaced Ciro Immobile with Federico Chiesa, remaining with no centre forwards on the pitch as the Juventus star partnered with Nicolò Zaniolo upfront.
“We thought Chiesa could give a bit more depth and fewer reference points for the defence. The lads put in all they had, but there are things we ought to regret, probably that we didn’t play in our usual style.”
Italy will play in the third-place play-off against The Netherlands on Sunday at 14:00 GMT+1, while Spain will face Croatia in the Nations League Final on the same day.
“Now we have the Netherlands. We have to take the right approach and try to do our best,” concluded the CT.