London: The iconic Wembley Stadium in London will host the semi-final match between Italy and Spain on Wednesday (as per IST). Italy's team has been strong defensively and it is a known fact that Italians do have a knack for producing strong, world-class defenders. After the arrival of Robert Mancini as Italy's coach, the team has been proving their worth on the attacking front as well. This will be a great challenge for Spain and coach Luis Enrique.
Spain and Italy have faced each other 34 times before out of which Spain has won 12 games while Italy has won 9. 13 matches between Italy and Spain have been drawn. But beyond this Head-to-Head stat, Italy has a history of being a spoil-sport for the Spanish team. The latest example of that came in the 2016 Euro when Spain lost to Italy in a Round-of-16 match.
Before the 2016 Euro, Spain's glorious generation dominated the Italians as they won the 2012 Euro final as well as the 2008 Quarter-final against Italy, but it will not be as easy for the Spaniards. Italy is on a massive 32-match unbeaten streak and is looking strong both defensively and even in the attack.
Mancini has bolstered confidence in his attacking outfit by giving a free hand to Immobile and Insigne. Both these have changed the way the spectators look at the Italian side. They are no longer parking the bus; they are attacking, in full flow. Bonucci and Chiellini's defence is like a wall and very difficult to breach.
The Spanish team, on the other hand, is in transition with many new players on the block, they surely have impressed everyone with their performances this Euro. Spain has had a rough road to the semifinal as they drew their first two matches of the tournament but they have come back strong with Morata and Torres stepping up at the right time.
It will be interesting to see if Mancini is able to perform 'The Italian Job' tonight on the Luis Enrique's side.
Italy Predicted XI: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne