Italy – Belgium: Stalemate at Stadio Olimpico (2-2)

Cambiaso and Retegui put the last touches in the net after Italy drew an artistic tableau from the back to the front line. Lorenzo Pelligrini red card was a stab, as it killed his national team momentum, leading to a draw. A stalemate with no one was able to attain chechmate.  

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

After a dreadful participation in Euro 2024, hosted by Germany, that saw Luciano Spalletti and his men eliminated from the round of sixteen in Switzerland's hands, Italy left bad experiences behind and started their Nations League campaign with two wins, one of them against France. This sent a message to the European arena that Italy is recovering and coming back with young soldiers taking the torch.

Since Belgium took third place in the 2018 World Cup, they never came close to reaching another milestone of the caliber of the previous one. They recorded meltdowns that were unmatchable and incompatible with the quality of their squad. Adding to that, the Belgium manager's dispute with Thibaut Courtois nipped a potential return for the Real Madrid goalkeeper to the national team in the bud. It suffices to say that Belgium is playing without one of the main cogs responsible for their glory over the past decade. Domenico Tedesco and Belgium pass through hard times as their captain, Kevin De Bruyne, will be absent due to an injury he picked up against Inter in their UEFA Champions League opening game.

Spalletti relied on the same players who took France on. Donnarumma wore . . .