The Italian selection will have its first appearance this Saturday under the direction of its new coach, Luciano Spalletti.
A new era opens for the Italian selection this Saturday. After six years of Mancini’s reign, a new coach is in place with the Azzurri. Luciano Spalletti has taken control of the four-time world champions. He will experience his first in Skopje and face an opponent who brings back very bad memories for the Transalpines.
Italy under pressure
Italy faces North Macedonia, the team that deprived them of the last World Cup in Qatar. Even if it has recovered since this fiasco, notably by reaching the Final Four of the League of Nations, La Nazionale has reason to fear this meeting. The Macedonians, even without Goran Pandev, are always a difficult opponent to maneuver.
The Italians have no right to miss out, because they have already burned their joker by losing against England in the opening of qualifying. Another misstep risks putting them in a very bad position in this group, which also includes Ukraine. The pressure is therefore enormous on the shoulders of Barella and others. And playing with pressure isn’t really what’s working best for the Azzurri at the moment.
On paper, Italy still remains a much better team than North Macedonia. And if Spalletti ever manages to instill in this selection the same ideas that he put forward in Naples then there is no reason to fear a hitch.
The probable teams of North Macedonia – Italy
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski; Ashkovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Zajkov, Alioski; Ademi, Bardhi; Elmas; Trajkovski, Nestorovski
Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Romagnoli, Bastoni, Dimarco; Barella, Tonali, Locatelli; Politano, Immobile, Zaccagni
On which channel can you watch the North Macedonia – Italy match?
The meeting between North Macedonia and Italy will be followed this Saturday from 8:45 p.m. on the L’Equipe channel. The game can also be followed in streaming on L’Equipe Live.
