TMW
Update Friday 7.55pm – Spalletti: “Mancini in place of Calafiori. Scamacca-Retegui doubtful in attack. During the pre-match press conference, Luciano Spalletti gave some indications about the lineup: “Will Scamacca play tomorrow? We’ll have to see, that’s the only doubt I have. But there won’t be one who will be left out between Scamacca and Retegui, they both offer great solutions and we just have to understand who to play first and who after”.
How is the situation in defense? Who will replace Calafiori?
“Bastoni will have to be seen tomorrow, Dimarco will not be there. Bastoni has had a bit of a fever again, we fixed him and he was much better today. We’ll have to see what response he will get tonight. Mancini will play in place of Calafiori, he has the right amount of experience and in this case I want to play with a right-footer on the right and a left-footer on the left. I prefer it this way”. In defence, should Bastoni’s condition worsen tomorrow, space will be given to Buongiorno.
Probable Italy lineup (4-3-3) – Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni (Good Morning), Darmian; Cristante, Fagioli, Barella; Church, Scamacca (Retegui), El Shaarawy. Technical Commissioner: Luciano Spalletti.
Update Friday 18.50 – Spalletti: “Dimarco is out”. And confirms the four-man defense. Luciano Spalletti in the one-to-ones on the eve confirmed that Federico Dimarco will not be in the match: “Bastoni trained and made us breathe a sigh of relief. Dimarco is out, he cannot be recovered. We will play with something that resembles a back four , but we will try to be more offensive than we have done so far. There are young players who are pushing to play and we need to find space for them, like Fagioli.
Update Friday 14.20 – Federico Dimarco is unlikely to be available for the match against Switzerland. Struggling with a calf contusion sustained in the match against Spain, the national team full-back was deployed from the start against Croatia, but he did not seem 100% and at the start of the second half he was called back to the bench. In recent days Dimarco has continued with his recovery program, but he is still not at his best and today he also did differentiated work. Without the Inter full-back, and without a substitute with the same characteristics, Spalletti, after having insisted for several days on the three-man defense, is seriously evaluating the possibility of returning to a four-man defense. It was tested today, with Matteo Darmian replacing his teammate and Gianluca Mancini confirmed at center for the suspended Calafiori. Alessandro Bastoni should be regularly on the field, despite a bit of fever that forced him, in the first part of training today, to do some work in the gym.
For the role of centre forward, Gianluca Scamacca is likely to return from 1′ but Giacomo Raspadori and Mateo Retegui have also been tested. Federico Chiesa will be there, Stephan El Shaarawy is competing for the other place behind the first striker with Lorenzo Pellegrini. In the middle of the field, together with the untouchable Barella, two shirts for three places: Cristante, Jorginho and Fagioli are in contention.