Spain beat Italy to reach Nations League Final

Spain beat Italy to reach the final of the Nations League

Spain beat Italy 2-1 at the San Siro stadium in Turin on Wednesday, October 6, in the first semi-final of the Nations League. This victory sends the Spanish through to the final on Sunday, October 10, where they will play the winners of the other semi-final between Belgium and France.

The was sweet revenge for Luis Enriques’s side, after the defeat in the semi-final of the European Championships at Wembley back in July. Defeat for Italy brought to an end their run of 37 games without defeat.

An unusually disorganised Italian team was all over the place in the first 45 minutes, and it probably didn’t help that the local AC Milan fans booed goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma every time he got near the ball. This is of course a consequence of his summer move to PSG.

Leonardo Bonucci, normally a rock at the heart of Roberto Mancini’s defence, saw red in the 42nd minute of the first half, after receiving a yellow for arguing, followed by a second yellow for using his elbow on Sergio Busquets as they went up for a ball.

Spain have total control of the match and Ferran Torres was the hero once again, notching two more goals for his country, taking his total to 11 already, both from crosses by Mikel Oyarzabal, who it is rumoured could be joining him at Man City in January.

His first came with a thundering volley, and a second was headed past Donnarumma, before picking up a slight knock and being replaced by teenager Yeremi Pino, making his debut for Spain.

Veteran defender, Giorgio Chiellini came out for the second half, but the Italians had no answer to the two-goal deficit, until, with seven minutes left on the clock, Lorenzo Pellegrini, on as a sub, took the pass from Chiesa and gave his team a glimmer of hope as he fired into the net.

Speaking after the match, Mancini was far from happy with the treatment dished out to his goalkeeper by the fans, “Italy were playing and it was not a club match. They could have put this situation aside for one night and whistle when it comes to a PSG-Milan game. Italy is Italy, and comes above everything else”.

https://twitter.com/EURO2024/status/1445873954766295047?s=20

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