The Azzurri closed the Nations League with a medal despite not being able to be crowned the main champion
Italy has the right to win the UEFA Nations League bronze medal after beating Belgium 2-1 at the Allianz Stadium, Sunday (10/10).
Alexis Saelemaekers finished off the Belgian counter-attack but his shot could only rattle Gianluigi Donnarumma’s post in the 25th minute.
Meanwhile Federico Chiesa wasted a golden opportunity to bring the European champions ahead at the end of the first half.
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Chiesa broke through the defense Red Devils and went head-to-head with Thibaut Courtois after receiving a cross, but he couldn’t beat the Real Madrid goalkeeper.
Azzurri seems to have succeeded in maintaining the momentum from the first half after winning before the second half had even been running for a minute.
Belgium’s sweep from Italy’s corner was not clean enough so the ball ended up at the feet of Nicolo Barella. The Inter Milan midfielder released a low volley that penetrated Courtois’ control.
In the 60th minute, it was Roberto Martinez’s turn to shake his opponent’s post. Michy Batshuayi almost equalized after firing a horizontal shot that Gigio couldn’t drive, but the post came to the rescue.
Five minutes later, Italy was even more overtaken after Timothy Castagne couldn’t catch Chiesa and instead broke it in the penalty box.
Courtois was able to touch the ball from Domenico Berardi’s execution, but the ball continued to go into his net.
Belgium could only answer Italy’s goal in the 86th minute when Courtois threw the ball for Kevin De Bruyne quickly after catching an Italian corner.
Playmaker Manchester City then fed it to Charles De Ketelaere who managed to win the Euro 2020 Player of the Year, Donnarumma.
