Tactical Analysis: Italy vs. Switzerland

Before a ball had been kicked, EURO 2020 looked like it could be a tournament for the dark horses. Yet, on a day when a heavily-tipped Turkish side were seemingly written off for good, it was another of the more serious outsiders who really underlined their evermore genuine aspirations to go on and win the entire thing. 

From minute one, Italy were once again dominant against Switzerland, just as they had been five days ago against the Turks. Having never previously scored three goals in a European Championship game, Gli Azzurri have now done it twice in a row, driven by a magical midfield with the perfect balance of technique, defensive bite and attacking verve, and spearheaded by a lethal trio of pace, power and trickery.  

Not only that, but in limiting their two opponents so far to xG’s of just 0.52 and 0.26, winning their last nine games by an aggregate score of 27-0, the Italians look defensively emphatic too. Throwing bodies in the way of the few chances they concede, they defend as intensely as they sing their national anthem before every game. 

With the mentality of underdogs but the quality of Champions, Italy are going to be a very difficult team to beat. The only question that now remains is how their infectious positivity and passion will fare against the superstar quality of the other tournament favourites.