Defending champion Italy was already disappointing in the group phase and continued to tremble. Things didn’t get any better in the knockout round either: the Azzurri had no chance against Switzerland.
The defending champion is out: A completely inferior Italy deservedly lost to a strong Swiss team in the European Championship round of 16. In the 0:2 (0:1) defeat in front of 68,172 spectators in Berlin, coach Luciano Spalletti’s team was lucky not to lose by an even bigger margin.
Joy about returning to Berlin clouded
Remo Freuler (37th minute) and Augsburg’s Ruben Vargas (46th) decided the match for Germany’s preliminary round opponent. Switzerland will face the winner of the match between England and Slovakia in the quarter-finals on July 6 in Düsseldorf.
18 years after their 2006 World Cup triumph, the Italians returned to Berlin full of anticipation – and experienced a huge disappointment. The Squadra Azzurra was worse in every respect and deservedly suffered its first defeat against Switzerland in 31 years. There was no sign of the exciting football with which Italy had won the European Championship in 2021 and beat Switzerland 3-0 in the group stage.
Next low point for Italy
For the first time since 2004, Italy failed to make it into the round of the best eight teams at a European Championship and experienced the next low point after missing out on the World Cups in 2018 and 2022. Switzerland impressed as they did in the 1-1 draw against the DFB selection in the group stage and are in the European Championship quarter-finals for the second time in a row.
Bad passes, misunderstandings and losing the ball far too quickly characterised the Azzurri’s offensive play, and there was hardly any organised build-up to the game. Switzerland dominated the game, but made far too little use of the helplessness of the deep-lying Italians. Captain Gianluigi Donnarumma made a strong save (24′) from a shot by Breel Embolo after a pass from Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka. The keeper was, as he has done so far in the tournament, the best player.
Source: Stern
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