Italy coach Luciano Spalletti
admitted his side were well beaten after they lost 1-0 to Spain
in their second Group B match at Euro 2024.
Although the scoreline might suggest it was a close encounter,
with the Spaniards only prevailing thanks to a Riccardo
Calafiori own goal, the Azzurri were on the back foot for almost
all of the game and winger Nico Williams was especially
problematic.
Italy still have a good chance of progressing to the last 16 as
a draw will suffice in their last group game against Croatia on
Monday after they beat Albania in their opening match.
"We saw too much of Spain, they were fresher than us," said
Spalletti.
"We were too late reading things.
"We were below par in reacting, finding space, getting back to
deeper positions. They were fresher and created us problems in
their speed of decision making; when three or four fresher
players came on, we put more high balls and created some
situations that could have led us equalizing, but they were much
stronger than us and deservedly won.
"It's up to us, as always, to make the difference," he added,
referring to the Croatia clash.
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