VIDEO European champions did not advance to the finals: the Spaniards interrupted the famous series of Italy – Športky.sk

MILAN – Spanish footballers advance to the finals of the second year of the League of Nations. In Wednesday’s opening semifinals, they triumphed on the ground in Italy in Milan 2: 1 and thanks to two goals by Ferran Torres, they finished the record string of 37 matches without a loss for the home team. On Sunday, they will play in the same place for a trophy against the winner of Thursday’s Turin duel between Belgium and France (20.45), the reigning European champion remains the meeting for third place.

At the age of 17 years and 60 days, midfielder Gavi from FC Barcelona became the youngest debutant in the history of the Spanish national team. He started in the basic line-up and broke the 85-year record of Angel Zubieta Redonda, who in 1936 for the first time in the preparatory match against the Czechoslovak team wore the most valuable jersey at the age of 17 years and 284 days.

League of Nations Semifinals:

Milan
Italy – Spain 1: 2 (0: 2)

Goals: 83. Pellegrini – 17th and 45th + 2 F. Torres. GC: Bonucci, Locatelli – Azpilicueta, Sarabia, Pino, Oyarzabal, GC: 42. Bonucci (ITA) after 2nd GC. Judge: Karasjov (RUS)

Italy: Donnarumma – Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Bastoni, Emerson – Barella (72. Calabria), Jorginho (64. Pellegrini), Verratti (58. Locatelli) – Chiesa, Bernardeschi (46. Chiellini), Insigne (58. Kean)
Spain: Simon – Azpilicueta, Laporte, P. Torres, Alonso – Koke (75. Merino), Busquets, Gavi (84. Roberto) – Sarabia (75. Gil), F. Torres (49. Pino), Oyarzabal

The Spaniards scored quickly

The reigning European champions were initially more active in shooting at home. Already in the 5th minute, Chiesa forced the first goalkeeper Simon to the first intervention, but other attempts belonged to the promotional category. Spain quickly controlled the ball thanks to their combination game and in the 17th minute opened the score with a simple but effective action, which surprised the Italian defense. Oyarzabal pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, after 40 minutes, wove through the guests’ entire central defense and put the 1 – 0 equalizer away. Immediately, the Spaniards could lead by two goals, after a series of blocked shots, the ball bounced to Alonso, who sent a sharp half-volley. The goalie Donnarumma reluctantly knocked him to the post and Bonucci definitively averted the danger.

Unnecessary red card

The home team swept the offensive trio, Insigne went into the middle, Bernardeschi moved to the right and Chiesa operated from the left. It almost brought a balance, Bernardeschi prepared a shooting position on the right side of the sixteenth and Simon finished his goal to the pole. Shortly afterwards, Insigne received a pass from the left wing, but unlike F. Torres, he did not hit the goal at the opposite end. The Italians cried for the missed opportunities until the break and twice. First, Bonucci saw a second yellow and red card in the jump of two captains after an elbow foul, and they collected for the second time at the set time. Spain came up with another accurate action, Gavi tipped the ball to Oyarzabal, he softly centered and F. Torres added his second hit in the match with a header.

The home team had an extremely difficult task in the second half, and the guests did not intend to make it any easier for them. Even with a two-goal lead and numerous advantages, they played fearlessly and actively, attacking highly, sometimes even with up to six players. They wanted to score a third goal, Italy tried to change the development of the match with several substitutions, but they did not bear the desired fruit. The author of two assists, Oyarzabal, was close to the well-deserved goal after more than an hour of play. Gavi found Pina, who got rid of Emerson and scored to the penalty area, ran into the back of the bar by Oyarzabal, but did not aim his head at the goal. With 78 minutes played, Pino could have brought this one home for Anars as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high.

The settlement did not come

Italy spent a lot of energy trying to dramatize the duel and scored a contact goal seven minutes before the end of regular time. The Spaniards underestimated the situation after an offensive corner kick, Chiesa won a personal duel with P. Torres in the middle of the field and two Italians rushed at Simon once. Chiesa played Pellegrini and the substitute footballer had no problem scoring in the open net. In the end, Spain already guarded the retribution for the semifinals of this year’s European Championship.

• The author: © List
• VIDEO: ESPN
• Source: TASR