Let's talk about the 1/8 finals of the European Cup for the first time today: Switzerland VS Italy.
After the theft of the technicians' computers, Switzerland became particularly cautious, asking the organizers to block the tower's aerial platform and send security guards to patrol it for fear of leaking tactics.
Because of the significance of this match with Italy, they have not beaten Italy in 30 years, and they have met twice in the World Cup qualifiers, and Switzerland has further deepened the feud between the two sides by virtue of Sommer's two denial of Jorginho's penalties, which has added a lot of highlights to this game.
The main reason why Italy have been able to maintain their record advantage over Switzerland for so many years is that they have implemented their traditional style of play - Italian counter-attack.
First of all, defense, which is the essence of Italian football, is the hole card of Italy in international competitions for many years, they are good at confrontation, and the unique chain defense is a tactic engraved in the bones of Italians.
The second is the counter-attack, whether in the hands of Spalletti or the former coach Mancini, all players in the team are required to have the ability to kick the ball, and they are very good at using the space behind the opponent to launch a quick counterattack after the counter-attack.
So what about this traditional strength now?
Let's take a look at a set of statistics first, after the group stage, Guoguo looked at the list, among them, the list of fouls in this European Cup attracted the attention of Guoguo.
Austria tops the list with 49 fouls, followed by Spain and Switzerland with 38.
And what about the Italy that everyone is looking forward to?
Only 27 times. Yes, you read that right, this statistic, out of all 24 participating teams, is the fifth from the bottom.
We all know that. Italy have always been the epitome of tactical fouls, defending with tenacity in regular time and beating opponents in extra time or even penalty shootouts, which is the playbook we often see for Italy to win.
However, Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci seem to be the last train of traditional Italian defence, and since their retirement, Italy's defensive hardness has dropped a lot, and the defensive style has changed a lot.
Needless to say, according to the current configuration of Italy's midfield, no matter how Spalletti arranges his tactics, he can't play flowers, and in the group stage of this European Cup, Italy's attack is also sparsely played, and in the end, it still relied on Zaccagni's goal to advance to the line.
Speaking of which, do you feel a little familiar? That's right, Italy now is very similar to Spain before the change, blindly pursuing passing, technology, hardness and confrontation have dropped a lot, lack of creativity, and it is difficult to expect their attack.
In particular, today they still have to lack the suspended Calafiori, the most eye-catching player in this European Championship so far, the number of chances created, the number of interceptions and the number of aerial duels are the first in the team, and even in him, I vaguely see the shadow of Nesta that year, his absence is a big loss for the team's attack and defense.
Switzerland, on the other hand, are also a resilient team defensively, with a mediocre ability to create chances, averaging only 10 shots per game so far, ranking bottom.
However, they have a strong ability to take chances, scoring five goals in the group stage, second only to the hosts Germany and the big dark horse Austria, and all five are sports goals, which is not low.
Today's match against Italy, although their chances may not be very many, but once there is space, I believe that Switzerland also has the ability to create trouble for Italy, looking forward to the two sides shaking hands in regular time, or Italy scoring one more, for the first knockout game of this European Cup, what are your expectations?