Two footballing superpowers will collide as Italy play host to arch-rivals and world champions Germany at the San Siro on Wednesday.
The Azzurri go into this game on the back of a 4-0 demolition of Liechtenstein in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. New coach Giampiero Ventura has taken over the reins from Antonio Conte and has done a fairly decent job in charge of the national side.
Despite a number of injuries defensively, Italy have managed to come out with the right results. In the match against Spain on 7th October, the Italians came out with a 1-1 draw and will be hoping for lady luck to shine on them in Wednesday’s game against Germany.
Ventura, in his pre-match press conference, praised the strength of the opposition, and admitted that it would be a tough task to get the job done over a formidable German outfit.
According to the Sun, the Italy boss said:
“Germany are at this moment a clearly stronger side than us and we cannot play the same way.
“They have a quality and organisation that goes way back, so it won’t be possible for us to approach it in this style. It’s not that I want to dent the team’s confidence, but Germany also had an extra day of rest.
“It would’ve been good to face a less strong opponent right now so we could build up some consistency.”
Ventura does make a point as the Germans are clearly the favourites going into the game. After losing to France in the penultimate stage of Euro 2016, Die Mannschaft have won five games on the bounce without conceding a single goal. Their recent result was a resounding 8-0 victory against San Marino.
The German side is bolstered by an array of world-class names and will go into this one all guns blazing, despite it merely being a friendly game. Head-coach Joachim Low could look to tweak his lineup a bit as he looks to build a solid team to make sure that Germany retain the World Cup in Russia.
Probable Lineups
Gianluigi Buffon continues to go strong at 38 and looks to have another major international tournament in him before he decides to retire, and is set to start against Germany.
In defence, due to injuries to Georgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli, AC Milan defender Alessio Romagnoli is likely to partner Leonardo Bonucci at the back with Matteo Darmian and Mattia di Sciglio playing as full-backs.
Daniele De Rossi and Marco Verratti will be the deep-lying playmakers for Italy while Giacomo Bonaventura and Antonio Candreva will play in slightly advanced attacking positions. Andrea Belotti will be looking to continue his good run of form and is likely to be supplemented in the attack by forward Ciro Immobile.
Joachim Low confirmed that Bernd Leno is set to start this game after Marc Andre ter-Stegen played in the win over San Marino. Manuel Neuer is unavailable after he pulled out from the national squad due to a reported viral infection.
Bayer Leverkusen youngster Benjamin Henrichs is likely to be given the nod at right-back while Jonas Hector looks to have made the left-back berth his own in the national squad. In the absence of Jerome Boateng, Benedikt Howedes will partner Mats Hummels in the heart of defence.
Borrusia Dortmund midfield Julian Weigl is expected to play in the middle of the park with Ilkay Gundogan. Serge Gnabry is on the back of a stellar performance against San Marino and is likely to start the game on the left wing with Thomas Muller on the other side. Mario Gomez will lead the line with Mario Gotze playing in behind him.
Stats
- In the 34 games played between the two, Italy have won a total of 15 matches, while the Germans have ended winners on just 8 occasions.
- However, in their last meeting, it was Germany who managed to defy all odds and beat Italy in a penalty shootout to make it to the semis of Euro 2016.
- Italy striker Andrea Belotti has bagged four goals in his last two games for the national side and will be looking to continue his good run of form.
- Germany winger Serge Gnabry rounded off his debut with a hat-trick against Liechtenstein and is a key man for Low’s side on Wednesday.
- The Germans have scored 18 goals and conceded none in five games since the conclusion of Euro 2016 in July.
Prediction
Italy 1-3 Germany
The Germans are by far the stronger side and will look to control proceedings from the opening whistle. Their attack ranks among the world’s best and Italy’s weakened defence will certainly do the hosts no favour on the day. Despite not conceding in any of their last five games, it will difficult for the German defenders to keep up with Andrea Belotti who has been in prolific form for the national side.
