Hello everyone and welcome to this live blog for Tuesday’s Euro 2020 semi-final between Italy and Spain at Wembley. The Azzurri are the slight favourites to take the tie but Luis Enrique‘s team have grown as the tournament has progressed and will fancy their chances. We’ll be covering the action from London in this live blog, as we see who can get to the final which will take place at the same venue.
Italy vs Spain: 1-1 – Italy win on penalties
This is the start of our Italy vs Spain live blog, with the entries nearest the top the most recent ones. So, follow along with us for all the build-up and then minute-by-minute updates.
PENALTY SHOOTOUT – ITALY WIN!
Italy
1. Locatelli – misses
2. Belotti – scores
3. Bonucci – scores
4. Bernardeschi – scores
5. Jorginho – scores
Spain
1. Olmo – misses
2. Moreno – misses
3. Thiago – scores
4. Morata – misses
END OF EXTRA TIME
Even extra time couldn’t separate these two sides. The first finalist of Euro 2020 will be decided by penalties!
MINUTE 111: Berardi scores… but it’s ruled out
Berardi beats Simon to the ball and prods it home… but he’s clearly offside and it’s ruled out. Spain survive a scare.
MINUTE 110: Pau Torres enters the scene
Eric Garcia suffers some cramp and is replaced by Pau Torres.
MINUTE 102: Spain threaten again
Moreno swings in a teasing cross towards Morata, and Donnarumma’s punch falls to Marcos Llorente but the Atletico man’s attempt is blocked by the defenders.
MINUTE 97: Spain inches away
A corner causes havoc in the Italian box. As the ball falls to Morata, his deflected shot spins just wide.
Extra time underway
There’s another 30 minutes left to decide this captivating semi final, otherwise it’s penalties!
END OF 90 MINUTES: We’re heading for extra time
After a sensational second half, which saw Chiesa put Italy ahead before Morata levelled the score from the bench, another 30 minutes of extra time now lie ahead.
MINUTE 85: Moreno fires over
Good hold up play from Morata, who lays the ball off to Gerard Moreno on the edge of the box, but the Villarreal striker fires it well over the bar.
MINUTE 80: Morata levels!
A fine one-two with Dani Olmo, Morata keeps his cool and slots it past Donnarumma with his left foot.
MINUTE 70: Double change for Spain
Koke and Oyarzabal go off, Rodri and Gerard Moreno come on for Spain.
MINUTE 68: Simon with an important save
The game has opened up. Just after Olmo fires a strike wide, Italy almost punish on the counter again.
Fine work from Chiesa to play in Berardi, but his low right-footed effort is saved by Simon with his feet.
MINUTE 65: Oyarzabal misses another golden chance
Koke chips in a perfect pass to Oyarzabal but he inexplicably fails to make contact and the ball goes wide. Another golden chance for the Real Sociedad striker that goes to waste.
MINUTE 62: Morata comes on
Luis Enrique responds to Italy’s goal by bringing on Alvaro Morata in place of Ferran Torres.
MINUTE 60: Chiesa scores a fine goal on the break
A quick counter attack initiated by Donnarumma ends with Chiesa curling a beautiful strike into the far corner of Unai Simon’s net. Unstoppable.
MINUTE 53: End to end action as both Busquets and Chiesa come close
Busquets has a go from the edge of the box which flies just over the bar. Immediately after, Italy break with Chiesa testing the gloves of Unai Simon.
MINUTE 51: Busquets booked
Busquets brings down Immobile as Italy look to break, for which the Spain captain picks up a yellow card.
MINUTE 49: Immobile fires a warning shot
Spain struggle to deal with a ball over the top which Immobile almost punishes. The Lazio has an attempt from range but it dribbles wide in the end.
HALF TIME
It’s been a gripping first half, with both sides playing at full intensity. Oyarzabal spurned a golden chance by miscontrolling the ball in the area after a fine threaded pass from Pedri, while Italy have looked dangerous particularly through Barella.
MINUTE 44: Emerson hits the bar
Insigne slides a pass to Emerson down the left, who fires an optimistic strike towards the near post and finds the corner of the crossbar.
MINUTE 39: Oyarzabal blazes over
A good passing move from Spain ends with Alba playing a ball out to Oyarzabal near the corner of the area, but the Real Sociedad striker blazes his first-time strike well over the bar.
MINUTE 30: A frantic opening
There might not have been any goals as of yet, but both sides have started with plenty of intensity. Spain have pressed high, and well, combatting Italy’s attempts to play out from the back. Donnarumma has misplaced more than one pass in dangerous areas.
MINUTE 25: Donnarumma denies Olmo!
The ball falls to Dani Olmo in a central position inside the box, who drills a decent effort towards the corner but Donnarumma gets down well to deny the RB Leipzig player.
MINUTE 20: Let off for Spain
Emerson is played in down the left flank, which Unai Simon gambles on but is beaten to the ball by the Chelsea full-back. The ball falls to Barella on the edge of the box but the Spain midfield regroups to close the Inter player down before he can strike into an empty net.
MINUTE 14: Ferran drags his shot wide
Ferran Torres, cutting in from the left, creates some space for himself from about 25 yards out and decides to unleash a shot towards goal, but it goes well wide in the end.
MINUTE 12: Oyarzabal let down by first touch
In what has been a cafey start, Pedri managed to pick the lock of the Italian defence but Oyarzabal, who was onside, couldn’t control the ball. A massive chance wasted.
MINUTE 3: Barella hits the post… but it’s offside
Emerson plays Barella through on goal, who then rounds Unai Simon before hitting the woodwork. But the Inter man was clearly offside and the linesman raised his flag after the passage of play had ended.
KICK OFF
We’re underway at Wembley, as Italy and Spain battle it out for a place in the Euro 2020 final.
20:00 CEST: Players step out at Wembley
The Spain and Italy stepped out onto the Wembley pitch to get a feel of the venue at which they are about to do battle.
19:32 CEST: Italy’s XI: Emerson in for Spinazzola
It’s an unsurprising line-up from Roberto Mancini, with Emerson Palmieri replacing the injured Leonardo Spinazzola.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Emerson Palmieri, Nicolo Barella, Jorginho, Marco Verratti, Federico Chiesa, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne.
19:30 CEST: Spain’s XI: Morata dropped
Luis Enrique has stuck by Alvaro Morata throughout the tournament despite heavy criticism, but the Spanish coach has opted to leave the Juventus striker out of the starting line-up against Italy.
Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta, Aymeric Laporte, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba, Koke, Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal.
19:00 CEST: Luis Enrique: No side is better than Spain
Luis Enrique is confident that none of the other seven teams still in the tournament are superior to La Roja.
“No,” Luis Enrique replied when he was asked if there is currently any team who are better than Spain at Euro 2020.
“The numbers [given by] the GPS [system during training] are impressive. [The issue] is much more emotional than physical.”
18:30 CEST: Italy vs Spain predicted line-ups
Roberto Mancini will be without key full-back Leonardo Spinazzola after the Roma man suffered a serious injury against Belgium.
Italy’s probable XI: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Insigne, Inmobile.
Luis Enrique has been dealt a blow with the news that PSG winger Pablo Sarabia will miss the game through injury.
Spain’s probable XI: Unai Simon, Azpilicueta, Eric García, Laporte, Jordi Alba; Koke, Busquets, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, Morata
