Only 270 minutes (excluding extra time and penalties) and football will crown a new European champion.
Before England host Denmark on Wednesday, Wembley Stadium will host Italy and Spain on Tuesday.
Two teams with a rich past but with very different trajectories in this Euro 2020. This first semi-final is inevitable, and here is why.
To discover
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Where and when to watch the game?
Italy-Spain (semi-final): 9 p.m. (TF1 & beIN Sports 1)
Because there will be a war in the middle of the field
Italy has conceded only 2 goals in 5 matches in this Euro. She owes it to her defense and to her goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, but also to her mastery of the game. This is explained by his midfielder, praised by all observers for three weeks. PSG player Marco Verratti talks about his tackle science and his vision of the game. But after teaching Belgium in the quarter-finals (2-1), he underlined how much his compatriot from Chelsea, Jorginho, was "Indispensable" to the Nazionale. Not to mention the torchbearer Nicolo Barella. "We will try to keep the ball so as not to let them control the tempo," warned the Inter Milan midfielder about the Spaniards, whose possession game seems inexhaustible. Captain Sergio Busquets always assumes his role of control tower in front of the defense,while his Barça teammate Pedri (18) is revealed to Europe.
Marco Verratti's best with PSG last season
Because there are two renewals to validate
Absent from the 2018 World Cup, Italy was looking for a new identity. She found it with a masterful game, shimmering and far from the catenaccio etiquette of 20 or 30 years ago. It is on the best unbeaten streak in its history (32 games without defeat). A final at the Euro this summer, nine years after that lost in 2012 against ... Spain (0-4), would validate his return among the great nations of football. Since this coronation, precisely, La Roja had not reached the quarter-finals of a major tournament. Seeing her in the last four with her rejuvenated squad is a surprise. "This project was designed for Qatar (2022 World Cup, editor's note), but we are already looking at the big nations eye to eye," said Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish federation. Of the'European champion team nine years ago, only Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba (both 32) remain today.
Because there is Morata, the most Italian of the Spaniards
He had had two great seasons at Juventus, between 2014 and 2016, then he was loaned there again since the summer of 2020 by Atlético de Madrid. This Tuesday, center forward Alvaro Morata (28) will face the two emblematic defenders of Juve and Italy: Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. To say they know the native of Madrid would be an understatement. "He is one of the players who helped me to insert myself as well as possible when I arrived at Juve," Federico Chiesa stressed on the UEFA website on Sunday, confident that he had him on the phone. before their reunion. The Italians also know the awkwardness for which is mocked Morata, author of 2 goals and many failures in 393 minutes in this Euro. But'Spaniard is "a great player who does a lot of good things in attack and defense," said coach Luis Enrique.
Because Luis Enrique and Tassotti's nudge
There was the final of Euro 2012 won by Spain. There was the eighth finals of Euro 2016 won by Italy. But the rivalry between La Roja and La Nazionale reached its peak during the 1994 World Cup in the United States, in the quarter-finals. In a daggers drawn match, Italy opened the scoring thanks to a superb long shot from Roberto Baggio (25th). José Luis Caminero equalizes (58th), but the Spanish dreams are shattered by Baggio again, who erases Andoni Zubizarreta with a hook before concluding (88th). In added time, as Spain pushes to equalize, Luis Enrique suddenly collapses in the box, his hands raised to his face. He gets up, his jersey stained with blood, and rushes towards Mauro Tassotti, who has just nudged him in the nose,without the referee flinching. The current Spain coach confided years later that he then shouted “Vendetta! Vendetta! " to his teammates to avenge him.
Because Spain wants to make history a little more
Since the creation of the European Championship in 1960, Spain has played 4 finals, like the Soviet Union (now defunct), and only Germany (6) has played more.
La Roja would consolidate its place in the history of the greatest footballing nations by paying Italy this Tuesday.
She could thus aim for a fourth coronation, which would quite simply be a record.
In 10 participations, La Roja has never been eliminated in the semi-finals of one Euro.
Italy has not won this trophy since 1968, and its last two finals date back to 2000 and 2012. If it goes to the end, the Nazionale would equal France with two European titles.