Semi-final battles will bring a clash of styles
Four teams head to Wembley for the final week of Euro 2020 and as well as promising close battles, the two semi-finals present a fascinating clash of football styles and tactical approaches.
Italy have evolved under Roberto Mancini into a team that play high-energy, pressing football, looking to attack in numbers as soon as they win the ball. Lazy cliches about ‘catenaccio’, which refer back to a defensive style from more than half a century ago, have long been out of date, but really are completely irrelevant when looking at Mancini's team.
The Italian relish for defending is still displayed in the performances of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, but the system is built around a high-energy approach with over-lapping full-backs and clever use of the inside channels, where Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Chiesa connect so well with centre forward Ciro Immobile. It is a fast, positive and entertaining brand of football and it has been helped by Italy's players looking the freshest and fittest in the tournament.
In contrast, tomorrow’s opponents Spain are closer to their trademark national style, established during the tiki-taka era when they won the Euros in 2008 and 2012 with their 2010 World Cup success sandwiched in between. But, while possession remains at the core of their philosophy, their manner of play has changed significantly under Luis Enrique.
His Spain still monopolise the ball, including posting a tournament record 917 passes against Sweden while keeping 85 per cent possession, but his side are more intense than their predecessors and quicker going forward, with the coach often talking of the need for ‘verticilidad’, direct attacks.
On the continent, the stereotype of English football has always focused on commitment and work-rate and a direct, physical style, but that view is also well out of date.
Manager Gareth Southgate has, for the most part, been cautious and pragmatic, playing with two holding midfielders in Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips behind a three-pronged attack with Raheem Sterling on the left, Harry Kane in the middle and a rotating cast on the right.
The 4-0 win over Ukraine in the quarter-final in Rome, saw England play with freedom and panache once they had established a two-goal lead and it will be interesting to see if they carry that approach over into Wednesday's semi with Denmark, or if they revert to the careful control they showed against Germany in the previous round.
The Danes have always produced more progressive football than their Scandinavian neighbours and Kasper Hjulmand’s team owe much of their success to their front three. Martin Braithwaite creates the spaces which Mikkel Damsgaard and Kasper Dolberg have exploited well and wing backs Jens Stryger Larsen and Joakim Maehle get forward to add width, while there is a solid two in central midfield with Pierre-emile Hojbjerg and Thomas Delaney providing