Italy beat Spain on penalties to reach Euro 2020 Final

Italy are through to the finals of Euro 2020 after beating Spain in the semi-final at Wembley on penalties. Alvaro Morata’s equaliser cancelled out Federico Chiesa’s opening goal to send the game to penalties, but the Juventus striker’s missed spot-kick gave Italy the victory in the shootout. It was far from the perfect performance for Roberto Mancini’s men, but they crucially got over the line via penalties and are now only 90 minutes away from a 2^nd European Championship title.

The first surprise of the night came from Luis Enrique’s starting XI which included winger Mikel Oyarzabal in place of striker Alvaro Morata, possibly due to the way the Italian centre-halves dealt with the threat of Romelu Lukaku in the quarter-final.

Despite not fielding a specialist centre-forward, Spain completely dominated the first half thanks to the excellent interplay and fluidity from their midfield trio of Pedri, Koke and Busquets. It was the 18-year-old starlet Pedri who was particularly impressive as he nearly created the opening goal, only for Mikel Oyarzabal to fluff his lines after a delightful pass from the Barcelona midfielder. Dani Olmo forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a fine save moments later and the Italians couldn’t cope with the speed of Spain’s crisp passing and movement, struggling to get out of their half at times due to Spain’s intense press.

Unfortunately, Spain couldn’t convert their dominance and possession into many meaningful chances and it was Italy who had the best chance of the first-half which saw Emerson strike the crossbar with a fizzing shot.

Spain’s wastefulness in front of goal has been a defining feature of their entire tournament and once again proved to be their downfall as Italy opened the scoring in the second half against the run of play. Gianluigi Donnarumma’s quick-release launched an Italy counter which was finished off by a stunning finish from Federico Chiesa curled into the bottom corner at the hour mark.

Luis Enrique turned to his substitute bench in search of an equaliser and Alvaro Morata – who was dropped for the first time this tournament – answered the call, bringing Spain level after an excellent one-two with Dani Olmo in the 80^th minute.

Following the intense tempo of the first 90 minutes, the game was destined to go to penalties with both sets of players tiring during extra-time.

Both sides started poorly in the shootout, with Manuel Locatelli and Dani Olmo unable to convert their spot-kicks. Unfortunately for La Roja, the decisive miss came from their leading goal-scorer at the European Championships as Alvaro Morata’s tame shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, allowing Jorginho to send Italy to the final with his nonchalantly taken penalty.

It took fine margins for Italy to overcome Spain, but the Azzurri are now the favourites to go all the way and lift the trophy after extending their unbeaten run in international football to an astonishing 33 games.