First half at the King Baldovino stadium in Brussels with the score 0-1 for Spalletti’s team.
Take the lead Italy with Tonali in the 11th minute. Triangulation between Barella and Di Lorenzo, ball in the middle in the small area, Tonali arrives and pushes it into the net. After the goal the Azzurri take more control of the field.
Around half an hour Belgium is pressing in the half of Spalletti’s team. At the end, Italy is dangerous: in the 44th minute, a team action with Cambiaso in the area passing to Tonali but the Newcastle striker is anticipated.
Belgium-Italy. The official lineups
Belgium (4-2-3-1): Casteels; Castagne, Debast, Faes, Theate; Engels, Onana; Trossard, Openda, De Cuyper; Lukaku. CT. German
Italia (3-5-1-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Bastoni; Cambiaso, Frattesi, Rovella, Tonali, Dimarco; Stretcher; Retegui. Ct. Spalletti
Against Belgiumin the basin of the ‘King Baldovino’ stadium, in the same place that was the scene of the 1985 Heysel tragedy where, before the Champions Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus, 39 people lost their lives, Luciano Spalletti’s national team plays the first match point. Kick-off at 8.45pm live on Rai Uno and streaming on Rainews.it
Enough indeed not to lose to get through the group and at that point next Sunday’s match in Milan against France would only offer first place in the standings.
Be careful thoughbecause emerging from Brussels undefeated will not be easy. The Red Devils, who compared to the match a month ago will be able to count on Romelu Lukaku, are playing their last chance of qualifying knowing they only have one result available.
It ended on the first leg in a draw (2-2 in Rome), with the Azzurri able to resist, after a high-level half hour which generated a double advantage, in numerical inferiority to Belgium’s attacks.
Prohibited therefore making a mistake this time, so as not to throw away what has been sown in this start to the tournament, which has a double value, considering that qualification for the 2026 World Cup will also pass through the current tournament.
Arrive first or second in the group would guarantee the top seeding role and finishing ahead of everyone would put the Azzurri in a position to have a less complicated opponent in the quarterfinals.
Luciano Spalletti Press Conference (LaPresse)
Spalletti: “Both the result and the game will be important tomorrow”
“It will be equally important to play well and the result, both. We can rest assured that any choice made between Locatelli and Rovella will be the right one.” This was said by the Italy coach, Luciano Spalletti, on the eve of Belgium-Italy’s Nations League match.
“Both Rovella and Locatelli are playing interesting football: let’s pay attention to who does well. Locatelli, when I called him, his eyes shone and this is very important. I didn’t call him – added Spalletti –because I wanted to see things that he does now, different things. Being more qualitative in the midfield role makes the difference, the same goes for Cambiaso. Before we looked at it in 2d: also for Cambiaso, now there are many roundabouts in the middle of the field, in the offensive area, then we go into splits in the penalty area like a full-back. It’s like at the cinema: you need glasses to see three dimensions”.
The technical commissioner then warned again: “It will be essential to do good preventive measures on Lukaku: Belgium will focus a lot on him, on his advances for the restarts, we need to pay attention.”
Luciano Spalletti ceremony for the victims of the Heysel disaster at a monument at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Tubize, 13 November 2024 (afp)
Minute of silence at the stadium in memory of the 39 victims
A minute of silence and the laying of three wreaths of flowers, one white, one red, one green: Italian football, with its senior national team, its coach and the president of the FIGC paid homage to the victims of the Heysel massacre , on the eve of the Nations League match between Belgium and Italy.
At the time, 25-year-old Spalletti was still playing football. and says he has a very vivid memory of that cursed May 29, 1985, shortly before the start of the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool, in which 39 people died, including 32 Italians, and over 600 were injured.
“That tragedy – he said in the press conference – it must remain in everyone’s memory, out of respect for the people who died, so that it doesn’t happen again.” The national team coach also underlined that we must not give in in the fight against violence in stadiums: “Everyone must be made to understand that the stadium is a place to have fun, to love a sport dear to many people”, he added.
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