Italy coach Luciano Spalletti won’t replace Mateo Retegui for the Nations League quarter-finals first-leg against Germany but may call up Roberto Piccoli or Tommaso Baldanzi for the second leg on Sunday.
Atalanta striker Retegui pulled out of the Italy squad on Wednesday after sustaining a minor muscle injury.
“We sent him back home because he would not recover, but we hope he returns for the next Atalanta game,” Spalletti explained at a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“The exact problem is not well defined, but he has [muscle] fatigue, and, as we’ve always done, we decided to release him.
Spalletti names two potential Retegui replacements for Italy
“At the moment, I’ll call nobody because I want to see how the first game goes. I may need a centre forward or a support striker. We’ll see also based on Zaccagni and Cambiaso’s recovery. If I have to call a centre forward, I’ll call Piccoli. If it’s a support striker, I’ll call Bandanzi.”
Italy are already without injured Inter left-back Federico Dimarco who has missed the last few games with the Nerazzurri.
Andrea Cambiaso suffered an injury in Juventus’ latest loss against Fiorentina, while Zaccagni is not fully fit following Lazio’s 5-0 defeat against Bologna.
Atalanta’s Raoul Bellanova was added to the Azzurri squad just in case Cambiaso fails to recover for both matches against Germany.
The Azzurri will host the four-time World Cup winners at San Siro on Thursday, March 20, at 21:00 CET, while the decider will be played in Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park this coming Sunday.
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