Nations League, Italy-Germany 1-2: Azzurri come back in the second half

Milan, 20 March 2025 – The first act of the quarter-finals of Nations League rewards the Germany, who won with a comeback thanks to the goals, both in the second half and with assists from Kimmich, Kleindienst, the very successful move from the bench by the coach Nagelsman, and Goretzka. THE'Italy instead he deludes himself with Tonali, the best of his, before wasting several opportunities, also thanks to a Baumann in a Saracen version. The Italian defence is much more fragile, especially on set pieces and headers, the real Achilles heel on the evening of Meazza, unlucky also for Calafiori, who left the field in full recovery due to a bad twist of his left knee. A Dortmund Sunday evening will be the showdown after which we will know who will advance to the semi-final, where they will find the winner between Denmark e Portugal: Copenhagen the first leg smiled on the home team, who scored with hojlund and with the regret of the penalty missed by Eriksen.

The official lineups

Spalletti choose a 3-5-2 open from Donnarumma, protected by By Lorenzo, Sticks e Calafiori, with politan e Udogy as fifths and Stretcher, rovella e Tonali in the middle of the field: the two strikers are Kean e Breakers. Nagelsman reply with a 4-2-3-1 that he sees between the posts Baumann, with Kimmich, Move, Rudiger e Raum in a defense shielded by Gross e Goretzka: in front there is burkardt, assisted by Sane, She had to e Amiri.

First half

La Germany immediately earns two set pieces: first a corner kick and then a free kick taken by Kimmich and headed back by Calafiori, with the duel repeating itself in the 6th minute with the same outcome. The start of theItaly it seems more muted, but in the 9th minute the goal arrives practically at the first opportunity: Sticks spear for Stretcher, which filters for politan, which is placed in the middle of the exit of Baumann, saved by Move in advance on Kean but with the ball becoming good for the first-intention winning shot of TonaliIn the 16th minute the Germans came close to equalising with Goretzka, who heads a cross from the right over the crossbar: number 8 tries again in the 20th minute with a shot from outside the area following a header from By Lorenzo, calling Donnarumma at the first intervention of his match. At 30' Tonali he pounces on a second ball from a free kick: Baumann rejects it in a good way but this time he is saved. Shortly after politan lancia Kean, who enters the area and from a tight angle tests the visiting goalkeeper once again, who this time is forced to concede a corner. Germany becomes dangerous again from set pieces: in the 40th minute, from the developments of a free kick, burkardt overwhelms Donnarumma, By Lorenzo e Calafiori, without managing to tap in. Shortly after, She had to is knocked down from the edge of the area by Stretcher: on the batting point it goes Amiri, who sends the ball over the crossbar. The Germans, however, remain in the offensive zone and collect a lot of corner kicks, for a series closed by a foul by Gross su Donnarumma. The minutes of recovery time granted by the referee Letexier are 2 that theItaly try to manage in the name of ball possession: this is exactly the score before the referee's double whistle.

Second half

L'Italy returns to the field with the same players, while the Germany presents Schlotterbeck in place of Raum e Kleindienst for burkardt, with a relative switch to a three-man defense. The ideas of Nagelsman they pay immediately, because at the 49th minute Kleindienst, halfway between Sticks e By Lorenzo, heads the cross into the net Kimmich, sought by a large swarm of She had to. At 53' the low exit of Donnarumma su Kimmich, who has practically become a winger and on this occasion was caught out by GoretzkaThe charge among the Azzurri is sounded by a raid by Calafiori, from which continuation Breakers change field for politan, which in turn arms the cross of Stretcher for Udogy, anticipated in the corner. Taking advantage of a phase of stasis, Spalletti opens his substitutions by inserting Bellanova e Ricci for politan e rovella: Nagelsman throw instead Leweling for Amiri.

At 67' Tonali e Kean exchange, with a backheel assist from the first: the striker kicks on the rebound and, with extreme power, doesn't go far from the crossbar. TheItaly insists and shortly after, still on the suggestion of Tonali, grazes the net again with Breakers: Baumann saves himself by foot. On the other side the Germany it proves dangerous when the ball arrives at Kimmich, who this time tries with a cross Goretzka, whose header ends just wide. Spalletti then insert Maldini for Breakers. Speaking of new faces, the impact of Bellanova He was unhappy with the match and it was from his incorrect disengagement that the Germans earned a corner thanks to an initiative by Sane: it's the 77th minute Goretzka he heads the ball in from the corner taken by the usual Kimmich. THE'Italy he looks for an immediate reply right from the corner: he takes it Udogy e Sticks commits Baumann, nothing short of miraculous on the occasion. At the 81st minute, at the corner, on the other side, he presents himself Maldini: he pounces on the second ball deflected by the visiting defence Stretcher, who with a great volley doesn't go far from the post.

From the bench, on one side he gets up adeyemi for Sane, while from the other they enter Lucca e Fraternity for Kean e Stretcher. At 85' Baumann confirms his evening of grace on the straight-forward shot of Maldini. Nagelsman then the last card is played, Andrich for Gross. Letexier grant 4' of recovery that the guests try to cushion by keeping the ball. For theItaly it rains on wet when Calafiori slips by himself, stressing his left knee: the defender of theArsenal sits on the bench, leaving the Azzurri with ten men at the end. Despite everything, the National feel one last gasp when Lucca spizza, but at the bottom, the launch of Tonali: nothing that can rebalance the first round, which awaits the showdown on Sunday at Dortmund directs the challenge towards the Germans.