In the early morning of June 30, Beijing time, the 1/8 finals of the European Cup were played by the Italian men's football team against the Swiss men's football team. Italy, who were mainly defensive and counter-attacking, were pressed by Switzerland for a long time and created few threats, and the defending champions were in a desperate situation as they were beaten by Freuler. In the second half, Vargas helped Switzerland extend their score to a 2-0 win over Italy, advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history for the second consecutive time.
As the defending champions, Italy qualified second in the group with four points in three rounds, and Switzerland also qualified second in the group with four points in three rounds, and the two teams met in two consecutive European Championships, the last one was in the group stage, when Italy beat Switzerland 3-0.
Three years ago, in the World Preliminary Tournament, Italy was forced to draw by Switzerland home and away in a row, and finally locked the second place and missed the World Cup, and was finally eliminated from the play-offs. Therefore, it will not be easy for Italy to eliminate Switzerland, whose strength should not be underestimated. In the latest world rankings, Italy is ranked 10th and Switzerland is ranked 19th.
Compared to Switzerland, Italy changed six positions in the starting line-up, while the formation changed from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3, with only Barella starting in midfield, and Chiesa, Scamacca and Shaarawy leading the line.
Compared with the past, Italy in this game was dominated by defensive counterattacks, and Switzerland became the main attack, and the latter played better and better, and the pressure on the Italian back line increased.
In the 23rd minute, Switzerland easily penetrated the Italian defence, Embolo inserted into the box to form a one-on-one chance, and finally fired into the far corner that was saved sideways by goalkeeper Donnarumma, and Italy escaped.
It wasn't until the 26th minute that Italy had their first shot on goal since the opening kick-off, that is, Barella's push in the box was blocked by a defender and there was no threat.
In the 37th minute, the score was rewritten, and the Italian defense was torn apart:
Vargas slashed into the box from the left, and the inserted Freuler stopped and volleyed into the net, goalkeeper Donnarumma couldn't stop the ball in the net, and Switzerland broke the deadlock 1-0.
Until the end of the first half, Italy still did not equalize. According to statistics, Italy only had 1 shot on target in this half, while Switzerland had a whopping 10 shots and 3 shots on target, scoring 1 goal, and the possession rate of 59% was obviously superior.
Just 27 seconds into the second half, Switzerland scored again, Vargas scored from inside the penalty area, the score became 2-0, Italy was in a desperate situation, and then had a hit post, and finally lost 0-2 and failed to advance.