Italy have qualified for Euro 2024 following a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Ukraine with Alessandro Buongiorno and Federico Chiesa among the best players at the BayArena in Leverkusen.
Ukraine 0-0 Italy: Match report
Player ratings
Donnarumma 7 – Pulled out two stunning saves to keep the scores level.
Di Lorenzo 6.5 – Mudryk was faster and gave him a hard time. Nearly ruined his performance when neither he nor Donnarumma got on the ball in the second half, leading to a corner kick for Ukraine, but it could have been much worse.
Acerbi 6.5 – Led Italy’s defence with his experience.
Buongiorno 7 – Instantly booked in the first half but gained confidence as the minutes passed and seemed a veteran in the final minutes. Impressive.
Dimarco 6.5 – Focused defensively and was always ready to support midfielders and strikers in the final third. What else do you need from a left-back?
Jorginho 6 – Gave his contribution to Italy’s build-up and was solid defensively. (71′ Cristante 5.5 – Was lucky because that could have been a penalty.)
Barella 6.5 – Fought hard on every ball and had a couple of goal-scoring opportunities in the first half.
Frattesi 6 – Wasted Italy’s best chance in the first half, but his late runs inside the box were a threat for Ukraine, at least before the break.
Zaniolo 5 – He has the skills to make the difference in the final third, but the Aston Villa striker was never a threat down the right flank. He was subbed off with groin issues. (71′ Politano N/A 91′ Darmian N/A).
Raspadori 5.5 – The Napoli forward moved continuously but wasn’t always in the right place to go for the goal. (46′ Scamacca 5 – Didn’t win any duel.)
Chiesa 7 – By far Italy’s best player. Single-handedly created the Azzurri’s best chances and helped the team defensively. He seemed possessed. It’s no surprise he was exhausted when he was replaced. (80′ Kean N/A)
Coach: Spalletti 6.5 – Italy didn’t score for the first time in his tenure. They couldn’t win it, so they tried not to lose and the Azzurri eventually earned a place at Euro 2024.
Ukraine: Trubin 6.5; Konoplya 5.5 (86’ Tymchyk N/A), Svatok 6.5 (91’ Malinovskyi N/A), Zabarnyi 6.5, Mykolenko 6; Stepanenko 6.5 (80’ Pikhlyonok N/A); Tsygankov 6 (80’ Zubkov N/A), Sudakov 6.5, Zinchenko 6 (86’ Sikan N/A), Mudryk 6.5; Dovbyk 6.
Chiesa was phenomenal. He brought about 95% of italian danger in attack, and still found the energy to go back and defend as well. The only minus is that he gave the ball away to the opponent 2 or 3 times, but the overal prestation was so good it can be forgiven.
Scamacca, on the other hand…. I mean, “being tall” is nice, but …
If I ever complain about Immobile again, show me a picture of Scamacca.