Axel Witsel admits ‘it won’t be easy’ to stop Italy and hopes Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne will recover to face the Azzurri.
Italy and Belgium meet at Munich’s Allianz Arena in the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2020 tomorrow.
Roberto Mancini can rely on full squad, while De Bruyne and Hazard are in doubt for Belgium.
“They are feeling better, we are optimistic. We will know tomorrow whether they will play or not. They are two big players, so we hope they can make it,” Witsel said at a press conference.
“Italy have Jorginho, Verratti and many other quality players. They play good football and I imagine tomorrow’s game will be a nice one. We will try to be ready,” the 32-year-old continued.
“They want to keep the ball possession and attack the space, it will be a complicated game in the middle of the park.
“They have a great midfield, so we’ll need to adapt, but the same is true of them. We’ll need to remain focused for 90 minutes, not as we did against Portugal when we fell asleep in the final minutes.
“Italy play really well, I like their style. It won’t be easy to stop them. We can’t commit the same mistakes we did against Portugal.”
Witsel came close to joining Juventus in the summer of 2016 but eventually moved to Zenit the following January.
“I have no regrets, I chose another club, and if I could go back in time, I would make the same choice,” he ensured.
“I had been out of action for a long time, and it was not easy to recover the best fitness and make it into the squad. Now I am feeling well. I’ve been lucky, but I’ve been working hard too.”