Italy promises to take risks against Ukraine

BERLIN:

Luciano Spalletti and his Italy team have vowed to continue a high-risk approach to Monday’s high-stakes clash with Ukraine in Leverkusen, despite the risk of missing out on yet another major tournament if they lose.

Italy beat North Macedonia 5-2 on Friday to leapfrog Ukraine into second place in the group. Italy need just a draw to secure automatic qualification to Euro 2024.

“We are more positive under Spalletti,” said twice-scoring Federico Chiesa. “We’re taking a few more risks defensively. We want to play against Ukraine with that mentality.”

The Euro 2020 champions have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups and a defeat by Ukraine would hand the war-torn eastern European nation qualification, leaving Italy to face a play-off tournament in 2024 to defend their its title.

Although a clean sheet would book the Azzurri a ticket to Germany for next year’s tournament, Spalletti’s attack-minded side are determined not to sit back and defend like Italian teams of the past.

Despite the flattering scoreline against North Macedonia, the two-time European champions left the door open for their team.

Leading 3-0 at half-time, Italy conceded two second-half goals from Jani Atanasov, allowing North Macedonia to claw their way back into the match.

The attacking approach is typical of Spalletti, who created a fearsome attacking machine at Napoli last season as they won the Scudetto for the first time since the Diego Maradona era.

Winger Chiesa was dangerous throughout and scored a goal in the first half. He wasn’t concerned with his team’s defensive performance.

“The important thing is that we won,” Chiesa said.

“We are more positive under Spalletti, and that means we take a few more risks in defence. We showed we wanted to dominate the game and deserved to win.”

Chiesa praised Spalletti’s attacking approach saying conceding goals is “part of the beauty of attacking football”.

Chiesa promised more of the same on Monday.

“We want to play against Ukraine with this mentality and win in Leverkusen. We must not lose this goal.”

Italy’s second-half wobble was also of little concern to Spalletti after Friday’s game.

“It was a great Italy, both in terms of character and quality of play.

“I expected us to suffer, freeze and try to push on. Instead, we went back to charging up the pitch, putting together moves and scoring. Along with the two we got, there were a lot of other big chances.”

Spalletti called the match against Ukraine a “final”.

“Whoever has the best race will go to the Euros,” he said.

Ukraine’s journey through the qualifiers has been nothing short of remarkable considering the team had to take home games on the road due to the ongoing conflict.

Despite playing nearly 2,000km from Kiev, Ukraine are likely to enjoy a familiar atmosphere in Leverkusen.

The German Federal Migration Service estimates that more than one million refugees have left Ukraine for Germany since February 2022.

Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk played their Champions League home games in Hamburg this season, attracting large crowds to the city’s Volkspark stadium.

Ukraine have lost just one of their seven games dating back to March, although that defeat came at the hands of Italy who beat Serhiy Rebrov’s men 2-1 in Milan.