Italy achieved its goal
Before the final match of Group C took place, Italy had the same 13 points as Ukraine but ranked higher thanks to the sub-index. That means that, if they win at least 1 point in this direct confrontation, Italy will maintain second place in the group to win direct tickets to attend the EURO 2024 finals.
Ukraine was in a position where they had to win and play as the home team. However, this match was actually held at BayArena in Germany. In addition to the advantage in rankings in the group, Italy is also more confident when it has a very good confrontation record against Ukraine. Specifically, in 9 previous meetings within the framework of international matches, Italy was unbeaten against Ukraine with 7 wins and 2 draws.
Italy has received a ticket to attend the EURO 2024 finals. Photo: UEFA
It is not necessary to win this match at all costs, but Italy still deploys an offensive stance, actively controlling the ball to push Ukraine back to defense. According to statistics, Italy kept the ball for 59% of the match time, made 511 passes with a success rate of 88%, received 9 corner kicks and had 17 shots.
All of Italy’s above-mentioned numbers are superior to Ukraine. However, the attacks by Chiesa, Raspadori, Zaniolo, Jorginho, Frattesi… were not as effective as expected.
At the other end of the field, the Italian defense played very tightly but there were also rare situations that revealed gaps. Fortunately for Italy, goalkeeper Donnarumma promptly closed the corner to neutralize Mudryk’s shot on the Ukrainian side in the 65th minute.
Goalkeeper Donnarumma’s concentration helped Italy keep a clean sheet. Photo: UEFA
In the last minutes, Italy proactively kept the team low, played safely and succeeded in holding the goal. With a final draw of 0-0, Italy had their 10th consecutive unbeaten match against Ukraine and more importantly, they did not become former EURO champions right from the qualifying round.
Match results:
Charts:
