Wednesday, October 06, 2021
Duel of the crisis giants
Oh, now it’s showdown in the Nations League
The duel is one of the greats in world football: Italy against Spain. In the semi-finals of the Nations League this Wednesday (8.45 p.m.) there will be another battle of strength between the two top European nations. Did anyone have that on their screen? Not really, right? In Milan, both the hosting European champions and the Spaniards want to ensure another highlight of this XXL sporting year – even if the conditions for a memorable football evening are not necessarily the very best.
Big personnel worries for both giants: The Italians are missing several attackers, above all the center strikers Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti who were successful in the European Championship coup in Wembley. “We have a few problems there,” admitted coach Roberto Mancini. The dropout list is even longer with the Iberians, where coach Luis Enrique has to replace more than half a dozen top performers. The fact that, despite the situation, he did without professionals from record champions Real Madrid and instead called extremely inexperienced players such as the only 17-year-old Gavi from FC Barcelona, causes a lot of resentment, especially among the supporters of Real.
A really big, legendary stage: What Wembley is to England, the legendary San Siro stadium is to Italy. While almost 58,000 fans provided a worthy backdrop in London in the summer, only 37,000 spectators are allowed in Milan due to Corona. The Azzurri still hope for support from them. Milan fans are somewhat worried that goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma resented his move from AC Milan to Paris in the summer. The keeper hopes that there will be no whistles when he returns. On Tuesday, a banner with the message “You’re never welcome in Milan again” was hung on a bridge near the team hotel, along with a filthy abuse.
Italy is fighting for its world record series: Even if the Nations League is about a trophy, both teams will face even more important games this fall. In November, Italy and Spain want to secure early qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A defeat now against Spain or afterwards in the final would be particularly annoying for Italy because it would end the world record series of 37 games without bankruptcy.