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Euro: Belgium-Italy, Lukaku against Bonucci-Chiellini lock

2021-07-02T13:42:06.311Z


Huge shock between Belgium and Italy this Friday in the quarterfinals of the Euro. Italy's youth and enthusiasm have been widely praised. Friday in the quarter-finals of the Euro against Belgium in Munich, it will also need the experience of the grumpy Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci against the hungry Romelu Lukaku. "On the one hand, Bonucci-Chiellini, on the other, Lukaku ... Who will win?" The question can pay off big - a place in the semi-finals at Wembley - and has t


Italy's youth and enthusiasm have been widely praised.

Friday in the quarter-finals of the Euro against Belgium in Munich, it will also need the experience of the grumpy Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci against the hungry Romelu Lukaku.

"On the one hand, Bonucci-Chiellini, on the other, Lukaku ... Who will win?"

The question can pay off big - a place in the semi-finals at Wembley - and has tormented the Italian press this week, which for two years has seen the formidable Belgian striker shake up the defenses and put in the goals in Serie A, with Inter Milan.

But the Italian midfielder Jorginho, to whom it was addressed, responded without stress and with a smile: "We hope it's Bonucci and Chiellini, two against one ..."

To discover

  • Follow the Euro live with goal-by-goal notifications from the Figaro Sport app

To read also: Didier Deschamps, and now what do we do?

Italy has great confidence in its venerable Turin hinge (215 selections between them), but doubt remains to see it on Friday.

Because Giorgio Chiellini, injured in the left thigh in the second match against Switzerland, remains uncertain.

Forfeit in the last two matches, the captain has resumed training, but the decision to start him or not will probably not be taken until shortly before kick-off.

Trick and "underground" gestures

In the event of further absence of Chiellini, who will soon be 37 years old probably playing his last big tournament with Italy, Bonucci would again be associated with Lazio defender Francesco Acerbi. Since arriving in Milan in the summer of 2019, Italy has seen “Big Rom” progress under the orders of Antonio Conte. “Tactically, I have become stronger, which allows me to be fresher in front of goal,” explains the Belgian, Italian champion with the Nerazzurri.

However, a hell of a challenge awaits him, all the more so if the hinge is reconstituted.

"For more than ten years, Bonucci and Chiellini have known each other wonderfully," ex-Italian international Aldo Serena reminds AFP.

"They have common reflexes with respect to each other, a lot of experience and know how to play cunning, use somewhat" underground "gestures, small faults, the fruit of so many years of playing together", he adds.

Read also: Notes from the Blues: Karim Benzema the only survivor of a collective shipwreck

Lukaku never scored when he was opposed to the two together, whether with Belgium (1 win, 1 loss), Manchester United (1 loss in the Champions League against Juventus) or Inter (1 victory against Juve).

He also did not score when Bonucci was aligned without Chiellini (2 defeats with Inter).

"Ugly and wicked"

In addition to their immense experience, the two grumpy Azzurri have a great desire for revenge after missing the World Cup-2018, a first for 60 years for Italy.

Both were on the pitch in the play-off lost to Sweden (0-1, 0-0).

“The will to rebuild is immense.

We managed to transform the disappointment into enthusiasm and the desire to do well, ”explained before Euro Chiellini, very motivated in opening against Turkey (3-0).

Bonucci keeps hammering the words “humility” and “feet on the ground”: “We have started an important journey. But if we lower, if only for a moment, our attention, our sacrifices, we become a normal selection, ”he said before the round of 16 against Austria (2-1 ap). By warning that it would not be enough for the Italians to play well to go far but also to know how to become, sometimes, “ugly and bad” to seek or preserve a victory. To prevent Lukaku from getting caught in the Chiellini-Bonucci pincer, Belgian coach Roberto Martinez could shift his scorer to the right of the attack, according to Belgian media. The tactic had worked against Brazil (2-1) in the quarter-final of the last World Cup and during the group stage during the second period against Denmark (2-1).“Big Rom” will cheer himself up by looking at other statistics: he has found the net every time he meets Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, with 4 goals in 4 matches against AC Milan.

Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2021-07-02

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