Luciano Spalletti hints that he has changed his mind on letting Jorginho take penalties, has doubts for the starting striker against Ukraine and warns Italy that ‘motivation goes beyond fear.’
It kicks off in Leverkusen on Monday at 19.45 GMT.
The Azzurri will qualify for the EURO 2024 group phase with a point, as they have a superior head-to-head record thanks to the 2-1 victory at San Siro in September.
Coming off the 5-2 victory over North Macedonia on Friday evening, Spalletti is expected to make some changes, including the return of Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo from suspension.
“The lads are doing well and I have everyone available, so the choice is now mine with quality and potential in every area of the squad,” Spalletti told the FIGC website and Sky Sport Italia.
There are question marks over whether Giacomo Raspadori or Gianluca Scamacca will start as centre-forward.
“We go to Germany with the certainty that this is a game where we can get the result we want. When you prepare for a game like this, you know that you have five substitutions available and different characteristics to call upon.”
Federico Chiesa scored twice in that win against North Macedonia, which remarkably was his first appearance in the EURO 2024 qualifiers due to various injuries.
“We have players like Chiesa who know how to make the difference and brought in some new elements who can be strengths for the future of the Nazionale too. The attitude must be to play this game the way we trained, the way we talked about since we first came together.”
That was only in September, as Spalletti took over after Roberto Mancini suddenly resigned in order to take on the Saudi Arabia national team role.
Italy have never lost to Ukraine, managing two draws and seven wins, but despite being forced to play on neutral turf due to the war in their homeland, Serhiy Rebrov’s side are unbeaten at ‘home’ in this qualifying group.
“They have a strong, powerful set of strikers and players who are in good form at club level,” continued Spalletti.
“Their ability on the counter-attack could also cause us problems. We need to press, keep our shape and not leave gaps that can be difficult to cover.
“We must act as a team and do our best. We want to make the Italians fall in love with this team and it is the right game for us to step up a level, so in future we can work with more confidence.
“Many want to make us feel afraid by reminding us of the importance of this match, but motivation goes beyond fear. The question we ought to be asking ourselves is: ‘Must I win? Do I want to win?’ But everyone says that. More realistically: ‘Can I win? Yes.’ That annuls all fears that can be around the game.”
There is one inevitable question to be asked of Spalletti, as Jorginho has now missed four consecutive penalties for Italy including the shoot-out against England, having seen a timid effort saved in the North Macedonia match.
So if there is a spot-kick awarded with Ukraine, who will take it?
“Jorginho took the penalty because he has a strong character. Perhaps it could’ve been more into the corner, but this is his technique for taking penalties.
“We have other penalty specialists too and perhaps it would make things difficult for him if we sent him back to the spot the way I did in the press conference the other day.
“We are evaluating other situations too, let’s say. As a midfield playmaker, he brings organisation to the team not just with the ball at his feet, but also indicating the positions to his teammates. He has a strong character, is accustomed to controlling the squad.”