A Riccardo Calafiori own goal sent Spain into the Euro 2024 last 16 as Group B winners with a 1-0 victory over Italy.
Spain impressed again having thrashed Croatia 3-0 in their opening game and should have won in Gelsenkirchen by a bigger scoreline had it not been for a mix of superb saves from Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and poor finishing.
They dominated from the start with Donnarumma called into action within two minutes, spectacularly tipping over Pedri’s close-range header.
Nico Williams terrorised Italy right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo and should have scored with a header from inside the six-yard box before Donnarumma saved twice more from Alvaro Morata and a long-range blast from Fabian Ruiz.
Spain picked up from where they left off in the second half with Pedri side-footing a golden chance wide within minutes of the restart, but Italy did the hard work for them when defender Calafiori turned into his own net from Williams’ low cross.
Calafiori nearly scored a second, Andrea Cambiaso hacking his team-mate’s rogue header at a corner off the goal line while 16-year-old Lamine Yamal and Williams both continued to dazzle, the former sending a shot inches wide of the top left corner and the latter hitting the crossbar with a delicious curler.
Italy were simply outclassed, mustering just one shot on target, with Donnarumma keeping them in it until the final minute with a late save from substitute Ayoze Perez when one-on-one.
Star performer: ‘Williams pure quality’
Sky Sports’ Roy Keane on ITV:
“It was pure quality. That real pace, you can’t coach that. It’s a threat. When he gets one-on-one with the full-back, there’s trouble for the defender.
“He can go left or right. His shooting power and his crossing is excellent. He showed great strength at times and his attitude was spot on.
“He was the best player on the park.”
Will missed chances cost Spain?
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville on ITV:
“Spain needed to be more ruthless. They could have been two or three up at half-time.
“They weren’t ruthless in the last tournament. Is that going to carry on here and cost them in the end?
“They should be scoring more goals with the way they play football. Some of the play is outstanding.”
Spain new favourites to win Euro 2024
Sky Sports’ David Richardson:
Spain are the team to beat at Euro 2024 after making Group B look easy.
They eased past Croatia in their opening match and then tore Italy apart. The only concern will be the chances they missed, but they won’t be coming up against goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma every time.
Spain’s Pedri, left, is challenged by Italy’s Nicolo Barella
There is a familiar zip and flair to their play seen during their four-year domination from 2008. Rodri is the glue that holds it all together in the middle of midfield, pulling the strings for the likes of Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams to express themselves.
Spain are well-placed to end their 12-year tournament drought.
Door open for Croatia?
Sky Sports’ Oliver Yew:
Italy showed plenty of resilience against Spain but in the end that wasn’t enough against Luis de la Fuente’s slick side.
Captain Donnarumma was required to make a number of smart saves to keep the score at 1-0 on a night when, in truth Luciano Spalleti’s side were second best.
They looked disjointed for a lot of the night and when defending so deep, they need an outlet, but they did not give Spain’s defence a lot to think about at they could not get their counter-attacking game going.
The result still leaves holders Italy with work to do if they want to keep the defence of the trophy going and qualify for the knockout stages.
They face Croatia, who were dealt their own blow on Wednesday when Albania snatched a last-gasp 2-2 draw, on the final matchday in Group B in what could be a winner-takes-all clash for second spot in the group and a potential last-16 match with the runners-up in Group A, which could potentially be either hosts Germany or Switzerland.