Italy was stopped again in the semifinals.

The second semi-final of the League of Nations was also close to extra time, as was the clash between the Netherlands and Croatia. But in the Italian-Spanish battle, the advantage of one side turned out to be much more significant. It was enough to decide the fate of the match without half an hour of additional clamor.

Quick change

The beginning of the meeting proved to be promising. Because the account was opened as early as the third minute. And here we must pay tribute not only to the mood of the Spaniards for high pressure, but also to the ability of experienced Italians to bring trouble to their doorstep. Fog happened to Donnarumma and Bonucci.

The goalkeeper decided that under pressure carrying the ball just forward would be too easy and would not be in keeping with his cool status. Therefore, he played on the near through the center. This neighbor in the penalty area turned out to be Bonucci. Even Leonardo didn’t look for simple solutions and tried to get Gavi out of the way with some sort of sneaky trick. The Barcelona midfielder nevertheless knocked the ball out of the defender, and it bounced off Pino, who deftly passed Donnarumma into the corner of the goal. Participants in the show from Italy could only shrug.

However, less than ten minutes later, Le Norman inappropriately raised his hands already in the penalty area by Unai Simon. The situation turned out to be funny, and also had a non-standard decision of the player of the Italian national team as the primary source. Zaniolo receives the ball from the left in the penalty area. It was possible to expect a blow or back pain from there, but he stabbed with all his might with the outside of his foot. Yes, so inaccurate that the ball would fly parallel to the goal line.

But, apparently, even Le Norman, who accompanied Zaniolo, did not expect such an illogical blow, he raised his hands and the ball hit his exposed forearm. Immobile skilfully scores the penalty, bringing equality back to the scoreboard. The first-half spree could have been expected to continue, but the teams were limited to a couple of really sharp counter-attacks before the break.

In one of these, Frattesi also hit Simon and managed to enjoy the goal a bit. But the judges canceled it, because Davide was offside during the throw-in. A dangerous reply from the Spaniards was held by Morata, whose free kick looked powerful, but Donnarumma held on and the defenders fell back in the rebound.

And in the first half, the teams did not please the audience with any special treats. It was not an equal fight that Croatia and the Netherlands showed in the last semifinal, but in different ways Italy and Spain neutralized each other.

Lucky for those who are lucky

We must pay tribute to both coaches in terms of courage in decisions. They made some changes during the hiatus. De la Fuente felt that Rodrigo was not up to the task and released Asensio. And Mancini had Darmian and Dimarco instead of Spinazzola and Bonucci. The latter was decidedly out of shape, and even the veteran Navas found himself at ease on Spinazzola’s wing.

Mancini soon made new permutations, freeing Chiesa and Cristante in place of Immobile and Jorginho. Here the question is in the initiative lost by Italy. From the start of the second half, the Spaniards already reigned supreme on the pitch. The Italian attack was not seen, Mancini’s defenses did not offer constructive solutions and exits. It cannot be said that these substitutions played in any significant way in Italy’s favor. Even the players who entered the field dissolved under Spanish pressure.

In this respect, de la Fuente’s further moves proved more effective, as he backed up the intensity of the pressing with his substitutions. Canales, Ruiz, Fati and later Josela may not have made breakthroughs and breakthroughs, but they allowed Spain to keep pushing. Desperate, clinging to the midline, Mancini finally freed Verratti in place of Frattesi. But all this was not dictated by a desire to act actively, but served as a reaction to failures in the areas and Spanish threats.

However, the match went into a draw in regular time. This despite the absolutely deadly moments Spain had at the start of the second half and later towards the end. Naturally, Italy will later declare that they have a 100% chance of taking the lead. When Frattesi hit Simon at point blank range. It was one of the rare failures of the center of the Spanish defense in the second half.

But Spain’s assertiveness affected just before the whistle. Joselu, who went off in the 84th minute, already celebrated his goal in the 88th minute. Rodri ambushed the rebound in front of the penalty area and hit that there is urine. The ball bounced off two Italians and bounced in front of the goalkeeper to Josell, who drove it point-blank into goal. And that’s it – no offsides.

Numbers

Shots on target (on goal): 19 (7) – 8 (3)

In terms of aiming, Spain topped Italy throughout the game. In the first half, the Spaniards scored nine times against three attempts by the Italians. This trend continued in the second half of the year. Also, the shots of the Spaniards turned out to be quite accurate. Morata and Rodri tried the hardest, with seven and four shots respectively. The hardest hit Italian was Frattesi with three attempts.

Ball possession (passing accuracy): 63% (89%) – 37% (79%)

In other indicators, there is also a preponderance of Spain. It hasn’t changed the tradition of ball control. The Italians sometimes tried to organize the pressure, but the Spaniards’ possession of the ball only became more confident and confident. Especially in the second half, when Italy was locked up near their own penalty area and made a few sorties. Structurally, the Spanish team’s game is built much more logically and much more sensibly. No ideas from Mancini’s team.

The Spaniards deservedly go to the final of the League of Nations. And for the second time in a row. In 2021, they lost to France in the decider match. Now we have a meeting with Croatia. And Italy in the same 2021 has already played the match for third place. Then he defeated Belgium. Now we have to fight with Holland.