On June 30, Beijing time, the European Cup opened the 1/8 finals of the competition, the first to be the defending champion Italy, facing Switzerland, the world ranking Italy is also far above Switzerland, but the state of Italy in the group stage is not ideal, not the favorite to win the championship, but as the defending champion, it is still hopeful.
The two teams have met three times in 2021, with Italy winning one and drawing two, including a 3-0 win over Switzerland at the last European Championship and two draws in the World Qualifiers.
In the last tournament, under the leadership of Mancini, England won the championship in the final, and in this European Cup, Italy's preliminary performance was stable, and England directly qualified, but Spalletti led the team to 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in the group stage, not only defeated Spain, but also tied Croatia at the last moment in the final round to lock the qualifying spot.
Switzerland have been similarly consistent, especially in the last European Championships, where they not only qualified from the group stage, but also beat France in the round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals. In this tournament, Switzerland and Romania directly advanced in the preliminary round, and in the group stage, the team was undefeated in 3 games, 1 win and 2 draws, including a successful draw with the host Germany in the final round of the group, and the overall performance was quite stable.
At the beginning of the game, Switzerland won free kicks one after another, and Ebischer took the ball on the left side and gave it to him! R Ronaldo breaks through with the ball! Got out! Cristante grabbed the ball and fouled!
Cristante takes the ball in the middle circle and gives it to the application! Faggioli took the ball and sent it away! Cristante's cross is blocked off the line. Rodriguez destroys the ball, Italy gets a corner, and the corner kick from the right is out! Shaarawy back point pad passes to the goal! The ball was cleared out.
Scamacca free-kick into the box! Di Loren follows up with a volley! Kick it directly! The referee signalled for offside. Faggioli takes the ball in the middle of the field and passes it to the penalty area! The ball is cleared! Chiesa takes the ball and breaks into the box! Akanji cleared the ball off the line.
In the 22nd minute, Ebischer took the ball on the left side of the front field and sent it diagonally to the penalty area! Embolo followed up and went to the meeting alone! Kick and shoot! The goalkeeper saves the ball! Ebischer gets the ball in the middle of the field! Give it to the front! Ndoye crosses with his feet! Bastoni clears the ball in front.
In the 32nd minute, a long-range shot from Ricardo Rodriguez went just over the goal. Ebischer gets the ball on the left side of the field! Give it to the front! Reed Breakthrough! Volley! The ball is blocked. Italy's Barella was shown a yellow card for a foul.
In the 37th minute, the Swiss cross from the wing accurately found Freuel, who was outflanked in the middle, and his left-footed push broke Donnarumma's goal, leading 1-0. An embarrassing record: Italy have conceded first in all four games so far in this European Championship.
In the 46th minute, a free kick opportunity from Switzerland in front, Reed's shot was saved by Donnarumma.
In the first half, Switzerland comprehensively suppressed Italy on the field. In the 37th minute, Freuler received a pass from Ruben Vargas and scored in the penalty area, and the score remained until halftime, and Switzerland led by 1 goal into the second half!
In the 46th minute, a shot from Rubén Vargas broke through the net, penetrated Donnarumma's ten fingers again, and made another world wave, giving Switzerland a 2-0 lead.
In the 52nd minute, the Swiss team almost set itself up for an own goal! The defender's header clears the ball and bounces off the post. Later, Italy made successive substitutions, and Switzerland also made substitution adjustments.
In the 73rd minute, Retegui's turning shot from the edge of the penalty area was easily confiscated by Sommer. Scamacca then fired a shot from close range off the post.
In the 83rd minute, there was a counter-attack opportunity from Switzerland, and Zubair's left-footed shot slid past the goal. At the end of the game, Switzerland 2-0 Italy, once again advanced to the quarterfinals, and the first game of the European Cup knockout round was an upset.
In the second half of the game, Italy was scored by Vargas in the first 30 seconds, and Italy's attack continued to be weak and failed to change the score, and Italy lost to the opponent for the first time in 31 years to set a shameful record.
As the defending champions, Italy played with an old-fashioned and passionless game, failing to pick up the pace when they were two goals down, and their whole game didn't even look like a European football team.
The Italian team is not a problem in individual positions, it is the lack of overall ability of the team, it was completely suppressed, and it was won by two goals. The proud Italian concrete defence crumbled into a stumbling defence, not to mention the front, where it felt like there were no strikers, no lethal passes in midfield that tore through the opposition defence, only ineffective crosses and downturns. The precipice of overall strength dropped and sent the defending champions home.