Spain dominated Italy to take home all three points in a 1-0 victory at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.
An unfortunate own goal from Italian centre-half Riccardo Calafiori was enough to see La Roja through to the round of 16 at EURO2024.
Embed from Getty ImagesHere are FromTheSpot’s ratings from the match:
Spain
Unai Simón – 6
Didn’t have to do too much to ensure Spain’s clean sheet remained intact.
Dani Carvajal – 6.5
Did his job quietly and effectively down that right-hand side for Luis De La Fuente’s side.
Robin Le Normand – 6.5
Got stuck in with his defensive duties, though he and Laporte weren’t tested too much by Italy’s attack.
Aymeric Laporte – 6
Found himself involved a lot less than Le Normand, but did his job when needed.
Marc Cucurella – 9
Was defensively superb up against the tricky Federico Chiesa. Probably the best performance of Cucurella’s I’ve personally ever seen.
Rodri – 7
Quietly dominant in the midfield, as he so often is for club and country.
Fabián Ruiz – 7.5
Excellent once again tonight for Spin. So silky on the ball, and gave Italy a real headache at times.
Pedri – 7.5
Missed multiple big chances, but don’t let that take away from his performance. Pedri was absolutely superb tonight and gave the Italian midfield no chance to get a hold of the match.
Lamine Yamal – 7
His energy and determination was a sight to behold. Yet another mature performance from the 16-year-old.
Álvaro Morata – 7.5
A brilliant striker’s performance from a man who often finds himself under scrutiny.
Nico Williams – 8
Whipped the ball across the box that lead to Spain’s deserved opener. Came agonisingly close to an absolute wondergoal.
Embed from Getty ImagesSubstitutions:
Alejandro Baena – 5
Was scarcely involved in his 20-or-so minutes on the pitch.
Ferran Torres – 5.5
Showed a couple of signs of promise in the limited time he saw on the ball.
Ayoze Pérez – 4
Had a couple of big opportunities to double Spain’s lead in additional time.
Mikel Oyarzabal – 4
Touched the ball twice in a lacklustre showing.
Mikel Merino – N/A
Italy
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 7.5
Made a huge save to deny Pedri in the opening minutes, which really set the tone of his evening. Kept Italy in the match time and time again.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo – 4
Had a very poor evening. Struggled against a brilliant Nico Williams, and failed to contain the Spaniard.
Alessandro Bastoni – 7
Bailed Italy out on a number of occasions with his last-ditch defending.
Riccardo Calafiori – 7
Defended well alongside Bastoni once again, and brought the ball out superbly. Was unlucky to score an own goal.
Federico Dimarco – 5
Also found life difficult trying to defend against an eager Lamine Yamal.
Jorginho – 6.5
As always, calm and collected on the ball. Hugely important part of Italy’s ball retention.
Davide Frattesi – 5
Didn’t contribute anything of note for Luciano Spalletti’s side.
Nicolò Barella – 7
Looked far and away the most likely candidate to make something happen for the Azzurri.
Federico Chiesa – 5.5
Had a rather disappointing evening. Struggled a lot trying to get the best of the brilliant Cucurella.
Gianluca Scamacca – 4
Looked really poor leading the line for a struggling Italy side. Ended his evening having completed just six of 13 attempted passes.
Lorenzo Pellegrini – 5.5
Found it difficult retaining the ball for an Italy side that so desperately cried out for that exact thing.
Embed from Getty ImagesSubstitutions –
Andrea Cambiaso – 7
Looked very bright off the bench for the Azzurri.
Bryan Cristante – 5
Was booked 15 seconds after coming onto the pitch. Failed to contribute much to the game beyond that.
Mattia Zaccagni – 6
Found himself involved in proceedings, but couldn’t make an all-important impact as Italy chased the game.
Mateo Retegui – 6.5
Worked very hard to try and make something happen for Italy, but struggled to deliver.
Giacomo Raspadori – 6
Similarly to Zaccagni, Raspadori was involved in the final stages of the match but didn’t have that special something to affect the scoreline.
FromTheSpot will continue to comprehensively cover this match alongside the rest of the EURO2024 tournament. Follow us on X to make sure you don’t miss a thing.