Italy National Football Team Vs Albania National Football Team Stats

Italy National Football Team Vs Albania National Football Team Stats

Italy are in for a challenging match against Albania in their opening Euro 2024 fixture, yet Luciano Spalletti should take heart from how his side responded when they conceded early.

Nicola Barella nearly equalised in the closing stages, but his attempt deflected narrowly wide of goal. Now, the hosts look set to secure victory.

In this article, we will discuss the main points of Italy National Football Team Vs Albania National Football Team Stats.

Italy Starting Lineup:

PositionPlayer
GKGianluigi Donnarumma
RBGiovanni Di Lorenzo
CBAlessandro Bastoni
CBRiccardo Calafiori
LBFederico Dimarco
CMNicolò Barella
CMJorginho
RWFederico Chiesa
AMDavide Frattesi
LWLorenzo Pellegrini
CFGianluca Scamacca

Albania Starting Lineup:

PositionPlayer
GKThomas Strakosha
RBElseid Hysaj
CBBerat Djimsiti (c)
CBArlind Ajeti
LBMario Mitaj
CMKristjan Asllani
CMYlber Ramadani
CMNedim Bajrami
RWJasir Asani
CFArmando Broja
LWTaulant Seferi

In this match, Nedim Bajrami scored for Albania after 23 seconds, netting the fastest goal in UEFA European Championship history.

Italy Record

Italy began their Euro 2024 campaign with a hard-fought win against Albania. Although Italy dominated most of the match, Albania proved an admirable opponent and made them earn every one of their three points.

Albania took an early lead through Nedim Bajrami’s early goal but could never build upon their lead; Italy eventually sealed victory through goals by Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella.

Gianluca Scamacca will take up his position as Italy’s lead striker without Ciro Immobile on board; and, according to reports from Italy’s national team camp in Germany, was impressive during his debut appearance for Italy as an attacking midfielder. Scamacca could make an impactful statement. He could become one of many Italian players who make their mark.

The Azzurri are on a quest to become the first team since Spain in 2000 to successfully defend their European crown, with all four previous meetings between these teams ending with Azzurri victories – most recently, their last encounter ending 2-1 against Red and Blacks back in 2022 – being victorious for them. Albania are unquestionable favorites to beat them when opening Group B play against them as all of their four previous meetings between these sides had seen them emerge victorious against Azzurri victories since all four previous matches between teams have seen one side win all four previous meetings despite them winning all four previous meetings!

Albania has some notable faces in its starting lineup, such as Atalanta defender Berat Djimsiti and playmaker Kristjan Asllani from Atalanta; as well as younger players hoping to earn spots on Luciano Spalletti’s squad. Former Arsenal midfielder Sylvinho leads their efforts along with ex-Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta serving as one of his assistant coaches.

At 89 minutes, Albania made their fourth change and substituted Bajrami with Ernest Muci, to great fan acclaim.

Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy was forced into making an impressive save against Mitaj’s close-range effort; diving rightward, Donnarumma dives to parry away Mitaj’s strike.

Albania Record

Italy overcame an early scare in Dortmund to beat Albania and open their Euro 2024 campaign on a positive note. Nedim Bajrami gave Albania an unexpected lead after just 23 seconds; however, within 16 minutes Nicolo Barella scored what remains the fastest goal ever scored at an European Championship match; surpassing Dmitri Kirichenko of Russia against Greece at 2004 European Championships who set this record after scoring within 1 minute 5 seconds against Greece!

Italy are perennial tournament favourites, yet were shocked in the opening minutes at Champions League winners Borussia Dortmund’s home venue in Dortmund. Gianluigi Donnarumma found himself out of position from an early throw-in and allowed Bajrami to steal possession before striking a stunning strike from close range.

Even though they were trailing, the Azzurri were vastly improved after falling behind and were the dominant team after halftime. Their shots bombarded Albania’s goal, but unfortunately couldn’t convert on one.

Italy made their first change of the game in the 66th minute when Ciro Immobile was replaced by Gianluca Scamacca – Europa League winner Gianluca Scamacca will hope to lead their frontline while Federico Chiesa may vie for No 9 position.

Scamacca nearly scored his second of the night but his shot hit against the outside of the post and hit off the crossbar instead! A minute later, Italy were almost pegged back when Albania’s Rey Manaj managed to break through Riccardo Calafiori and attempted to dink a shot past Donnarumma; fortunately he got his fingertip on it to deflect it wide of goal.

Italy were searching for a fourth goal with four minutes remaining of stoppage time to give themselves some breathing room. They were awarded a corner and Micheal Folorunsho headed the cross towards goal; however, referee Alan Burroughs rightly disallowed this goal after seeing Folorunsho offside; additionally Folorunsho was taken off after receiving a late challenge booking against Armando Broja and was later banned from further involvement.

Lineups

Italy overcame a woeful start to Euro 2024 to emerge victorious against Albania 2-1 in their opener. Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest ever goal at 23 seconds to shock Italy, but they quickly rebounded by dominating play for much of the remainder of the game and peppering Thomas Strakosha’s goal with shots.

Alessandro Bastoni headed in a corner kick to bring Italy level, and Nicolo Barella blasted home an exquisite second goal shortly thereafter. Although Italy were unable to build on their advantage and held firm against late attacks from Denmark, they managed to secure three important points early in the competition and secure victory.

Italy gave an encouraging performance against Croatia, who looked far more composed than in their World Cup qualifier loss to them. Without Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci at their backlines, Riccardo Calafiori and Armando Broja did well to hold things together.

Italy will face an even stiffer test against England, but their opening match was a solid start to their campaign. Italy must show more composure in the final third to truly become a top team again.

Italy made one change to their starting XI due to Gianluigi Donnarumma being unwell and being replaced by Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Alessandro Vicario from Tottenham. Moise Kean from Fiorentina served as an unused sub. Kean had been absent from an official international squad since 2017. Although critics of Luca Toni as Italy captain had many reservations about him as captain, Toni performed admirably as starting player. Inter midfielder Barella also began for Italy and looks poised to play a crucial role. He led all Azzurri players with assists during qualifying, being their top creator and being involved in both goals against Albania. Barella will hope to add more assists this tournament.

Predictions

Italy will likely dominate possession, but they will be tested by Albania’s tough defensive block. They allowed only 4.7 expected goals per game during qualifying play and will likely tighten even more against Albania’s fast-paced attack.

Italian players are likely to hold onto the ball, looking to build up play in midfield and on both wings. Their attacking potential could provide openings; however, their success in qualifying was limited.

After an uneven start, Italy found their groove, with Nicolo Barella scoring his inaugural goal of the tournament following an excellent team move and taking advantage of Riccardo Calafiori’s poor pass to score his goal and be booked for his challenge.

Barella could be joined in the starting eleven by Inter Milan teammate Davide Frattesi, who played an integral role in Italy’s qualifying run-in. These two will likely join Juventus duo Lorenzo Pellegrini and Federico Chiesa on the field.

Fans of Serie A should recognize most of Albania’s squad from previous competition. Berat Djimsiti of Atalanta and Napoli’s Elseid Hysaj will likely lead their respective defences while Kristjan Asllani from Chelsea, Nedim Bajrami from Sassuolo and Ylber Ramadani (Lecce) represent Albania as trusted offensive options.

Sylvinho will have his work cut out for him when it comes to steering Albania through this year’s Group of Death. While they won both friendly matches in June, matching that performance against Italy may prove more challenging. They should look to use long balls directed at Chelsea target Armando Broja – an integral player during qualifying – or more direct passes into Jasir Asani and Rey Manaj’s feet for maximum effect. They have shown themselves adept at hitting from outside the box, scoring five of 14 goals from outside in qualifying – yet Italy’s 3-5-2 system may make breaking down their opponents low block more challenging; making this matchup closely contested.

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