Euro 2020: Roberto Mancini’s Italy are no joke

Much was made of Roberto Mancini’s atypical Azzurri in the build-up to the European Championships that got underway on Friday night, with their position on the dark horse continuum up for discussion.

Were they an outsider or a bona fide favourite? I mean, Mancini’s men were heading into the competition 27 games unbeaten. They’re pretty good.

Turkey, meanwhile, had been touted as the darkest of horses by many following an impressive qualification campaign. Thus, a tight, attritional affair was foreshadowed by some in Friday night’s curtain-raiser between the two sides. An Italian blitz certainly wasn’t expected; not against a side that had conceded a meagre three times in the entire qualifying process.

The Turkish are markedly resilient, and for much of the first half in Rome, such resilience proved just enough to keep an exuberant Italy at bay.

But they were blown away after the break, as goals from Merih Demiral (at the wrong end), Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne secured an emphatic 3-0 victory for the Azzurri: the first time they’ve scored three times in any single European Championship encounter in history.

Juventus representation

Stalwart defensive duo Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini lined up as Mancini’s centre-back pairing in Rome, while Juve transfer target Manuel Locatelli occupied one of the three midfield spots.

Domenico Berardi’s impressive form to round off the domestic campaign proved enough to earn him a start ahead of Federico Chiesa, who’s enjoyed a stellar 2021 of his own, down the Italy right. Federico Bernardeschi, meanwhile, joined Chiesa on the bench but both would come on as second-half substitutes.

For Turkey, Demiral paired Leicester City’s Caglar Soyuncu in defence. The aggressive defender’s night eventually evolved into a miserable nightmare after a determined start.

Azzurri domination

Italian supremacy was clear from the moment Andrea Bocelli stepped onto the Stadio Olimpico turf to perform the most glorious rendition of “Nessun dorma” that would’ve sent many fans back to Italia ’90.

Bocelli’s vocals galvanised the Azzurri while seemingly disclosing Turkey’s inferiority complex on the big stage. Şenol Güneş’ side sought to defend deep and compact in a structure that occasionally resembled a 6-3-1, thus leaving Burak Yilmaz woefully isolated in transition. Their lack of outlets combined with Italy’s coherent and aggressive structure facilitated total Azzurri control.

Italy counter-pressed fiercely to inhibit Turkey’s work on the counter, while their technical proficiency meant their opponents were chasing shadows for the majority of the contest. Mancini’s men enjoyed 63.4% possession in Rome, completing 652 passes compared to Turkey’s 376.

In fact, it was Italy’s monopoly of the ball that proved pivotal in Turkey’s second-half demise; they were dead on their feet by the 40-minute mark.

Nevertheless, after probing but failing to penetrate for the opening 45 minutes, Italy turned on the style after the break. The optimally balanced midfield played with a controlling swagger, both wide players were influential and Leonardo Spinazzola offered a constant source of width down the left, thus allowing Insigne to drift inside, combine and wreak havoc from the half-space.

Locatelli smartly picked out Nicolo Barella between the lines in the build-up to the opener, as Demiral was unlucky to turn Berardi’s cross destined for Immobile into his own net.

Following the first, Italian superiority swiftly evolved into utter dominance as their demonic intensity disheartened their fatiguing opponents.

Barella, Berardi and Spinazzola then all played a hand in Immobile’s tapped-in first of the tournament and Italy’s second of the night before Turkish capitulation was complete when goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır gifted Berardi possession before Insigne calmly slotted away a third following Immobile’s deft pass.

Stats & Outlook

While the second half was all about Italy’s fluency in attack, there was still time for one vintage defensive moment from Giorgio Chiellini to close out the contest and secure a clean sheet. Chiellini finished the bout with three interceptions while fellow bystander Bonucci notched two.

It was regista Jorginho who dominated the defensive metrics. Amid a fine display, the Chelsea man registered an impressive haul of seven combined tackles and interceptions; accompanying an efficient pass completion rate of 93.8%. Locatelli, meanwhile, proved similarly composed with the ball – notching an 87.3% pass completion – but his impact on proceedings wasn’t quite as distinct as his midfield partners. There’s more to come from him, that’s for sure.

Chiesa was bright off the bench but Berardi will be tough to displace for the Switzerland clash following his productive outing. The latter was replaced by Bernardeschi late on and, well, let’s just say he looked like the Federico Bernardeschi of the past three years.

You can bleach your hair as much as you want, pal. That won’t disguise your incompetence.

Nevertheless, while it was a fairly quiet night from a Juve perspective, there’s no doubting that Italy’s performance will garner plenty of noise in the Saturday papers – and rightly so.

We knew that Mancini’s side were good… but not that good. They’re just so well-coached (Mancini may well be the best coach at the tournament), appear as technically proficient as a great Spain side and boast the depth to go deep into the competition.

Their cohesion is obvious, while their attacking dynamics are varied and exciting.

They’ll be the fan favourites this summer and they’ve certainly put themselves in the discussion as potential victors following their perfect start.