Spalletti: ‘Italy already played like this, need to absorb Croatia attacks’

Luciano Spalletti insists the change of tactics to a 3-5-2 against Croatia is not entirely unexpected, as they ‘already played like this’ in warm-ups. ‘Our destiny is in our hands.’

It kicks off in Leipzig at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).

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

At the same time, Albania and Spain face off in Dusseldorf to complete Group B.

All the Azzurri need to be sure of second place behind Spain is a point, because even if Albania win, they have an inferior head-to-head record with Italy.

The coach was widely expected to change the 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-1-4-1 with a couple of player adjustments, but instead revamped to 3-5-2 with Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca dropped, Giacomo Raspadori and Mateo Retegui coming in.

“In America, we already played like this, in the Empoli friendly we played like this, and the squad we picked made it look like we’d do this,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

“It was something we had talked about. I needed to get someone closer to the centre-forward, because Scamacca was a bit too isolated. I also needed to absorb the central runs from Croatia behind our midfielders with their wide strikers, followed by their very attacking full-backs.

“Rather than having one absorb from the right or the left, we already have two waiting for them and keep the quality intact in midfield with Jorginho, Pellegrini, Barella and Raspadori. They can dialogue and then send players forward to create problems for Croatia’s tactical system.”

Something had to give after the desperately disappointing performance against Spain, even if the result was only 1-0.

“The lads are all doing pretty well. In the most recent match, we were not able to do what we had planned, there was some behaviour I don’t want to see again, but we have what it takes to put in a balanced performance today, even if it might not seem that way.

“Even if Perisic does play for them, he’ll be a winger, not a left-back. We must have the substance to keep the game in the balance.”

Spalletti looks back on Italy experience

There are circa 10,000 Italy fans in the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, compared to 25,000 Croatia supporters, although the atmosphere is friendly and positive.

“We receive love from all these people, this is the direct contact that sends the message this is an important game, not the way we want to describe it.”

Spalletti took a wider view of the EURO 2024 experience, reminding everyone he only took over from Roberto Mancini in September 2023 with a couple of days to spare.

“The analysis is performed not just about the previous match, but the whole process. We had these ups and downs, these lads have done their duty so far. When I arrived, we had to qualify and many were afraid we wouldn’t manage to qualify,” added the coach.

“We got put into a group that people called the Group of Death, we’ve got destiny in our hands against Croatia. It’s one of those clashes that will make us either the protagonists of our story or bit-part players. We’ll find out which.”