Our Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews continue with Italy.
The Azzurri head into the tournament as defending champions but have plenty to prove after failing to qualify for the last two World Cups.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, taking a stab at predicted line-ups, reviewing the road to Germany and more.
To do this, we’ll be calling on the help of correspondents from each country.
Here, we hear from Fantasy Football Scout’s very own Gianni Buttice.
All prices given are from the official Fantasy Euro 2024 game.
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 20 |
| 2 | Italy | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 14 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 14 |
| 4 | North Macedonia | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 8 |
| 5 | Malta | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 20 | -18 | 0 |
Despite being holders Italy still had to qualify for Euro 2024 and they made heavy weather of it, avoiding the play-offs by the skin of their teeth.
Italy’s rocky road to Germany was not helped by Roberto Mancini abandoning ship for the lucre of Saudi Arabia with his side lying third in their qualifying group after two matches.
With Italy having lost to England and beaten Malta, Luciano Spalletti took over for the remainder of the campaign, engineering three wins and two draws and suffering another defeat at the hands of Gareth Southgate’s side.
The second win of Spalletti’s tenure, the 2-1 victory over Ukraine, proved crucial because it meant a draw in the reverse fixture, in the final group game, would suffice to see them through courtesy of their superior head-to-head record against Serhiy Rebrov’s men.
It went down to the wire, though, and a nervy 0-0 draw was only sealed with the help of a controversial decision by referee Jesus Gil Manzano, who elected not to award a penalty for a late challenge by Bryan Cristante (€5.5m) on Mykhailo Mudryk (€7m).
That proved a massive relief for an Azzurri side traumatised by back-to-back play-off defeats that had cost them a place in the last two World Cup finals.
Italy often labour to qualify for tournaments but once there they are a force to be reckoned with. Few expected them to win their second European Championships last time around but they did it the hard way thanks to penalty shootout wins over Spain and England.
QUALIFICATION IN NUMBERS
- Most starts: Gianluigi Donnarumma (8)
- Most goals: Davide Frattesi (3)
- Most assists: Nicolo Barella (3)
- Clean sheets: 3 from 8
RECORD SINCE QUALIFYING
| Date | Competition | Opposition | Result | Score | Goalscorers | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 March | Friendly | Venezuela (a) | W | 2-1 | Retegui x2 | Cambiaso, Jorginho |
| 24 March | Friendly | Ecuador (a) | W | 2-0 | Pellegrini, Barella | Orsolini |
Since reaching the finals Italy have played two friendly matches in the United States against South American opposition and won both, overcoming Venezuela 2-1 thanks to a Mateo Retegui (€6m) brace and Ecuador 2-0 with strikes by Lorenzo Pellegrini (€7.5m) and Nicolo Barella (€7m).
It’s also worth remembering that Italy beat England on the way to the UEFA Nations League semi-finals in June 2022 where they lost narrowly to Spain, one of their forthcoming Group B opponents.
MOST RECENT INTERNATIONAL LINE-UPS
21/03/2024 – Venezuela (a)
(3-4-2-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Scalvini; Cambiaso (Zaniolo 74), Locatelli (Jorginho 65), Bonaventura (Barella 46), Udogie; Frattesi (Pellegrini 65), Chiesa (Zaccagni 65); Retegui (Raspadori 87)
24/03/2024 – Ecuador (a)
(3-4-2-1): Vicario; Darmian, Mancini, Bastoni; Bellanova (Di Lorenzo 46), Barella, Jorginho (Locatelli 67), Dimarco (Cambiaso 88); Zaniolo (Orsolini 76), Pellegrini (Frattesi 67); Raspadori (Retegui 76)
UPCOMING FIXTURES
| Date | Competition | Opposition |
|---|---|---|
| 4 June | Friendly | Turkey (h) |
| 9 June | Friendly | Bosnia and Herzegovina (h) |
GROUP FIXTURES
- 15 June: Albania
- 20 June: Spain
- 24 June: Croatia
HOW FAR WILL THEY GET?
“Italy are a team in transition and Luciano Spalletti has only been in charge for nine months with eight games under his belt (five wins, two draws and one defeat). In that time, he has used an abundance of players which makes predicting his starting XI so difficult – there are arguably only seven locks in this team who will likely start Matchday 1: Donnarumma, Bastoni, Dimarco, Jorginho, Barella, Pellegrini and Chiesa.
“In the two May friendlies Spalletti switched from a 4-3-3 which he had used in his five previous games to a 3-4-2-1 formation which saw better performances and this will now be the formation he uses for the Euros, in my opinion. Expectations are rarely low from Italy fans but this time around I don’t think many expect too much. Sharing a group with Croatia and Spain is tricky and a quarter-final is probably a realistic hope but an earlier exit wouldn’t be a shock.” – Gianni Buttice
STRENGTHS
“Italy’s main strengths come in their tournament mentality, elite manager and fearless individual talent from the likes of Chiesa, Barella and Dimarco. Italian teams have also performed very well in Europe in the last couple of seasons, which has seen Atalanta win the Europa League, Fiorentina get to the final of the Conference League and three Italian teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.
“Together with Inter’s dominance in Serie A, this team will be full of players flying high with their clubs. Had Acerbi not been injured we could have seen an all-Inter Milan back three (along with Bastoni and Darmian) plus Dimarco at left wing-back and Barella in the middle of the park.” – Gianni Buttice
WEAKNESSES
“Italy’s main weakness is the lack of an elite number nine. Retegui has been Spalletti’s go-to and his contributions have been good (four goals in six) but Scamacca offers a bit more x-factor. Whilst he hasn’t been trusted by the manager, his end-of-season form for Atalanta has been sensational and he looks to have played his way in. At €7m, he could be the best differential in this Italy team.
“Another weakness could be the lack of game time the back three will have played together. There is a good chance Spalletti opts for Buongiorno (only €4.5m) as his central centre-back. The 24-year-old has had a breakthrough season at Torino and could get the nod over Mancini of Roma. Likewise, Darmian v Di Lorenzo at right centre-back is up in the air, as is right wing-back. On the left we know Dimarco will start at wing-back and Bastoni at left centre-back.” – Gianni Buttice
BEST EURO 2024 FANTASY PLAYERS: ITALY
“Federico Dimarco at €5m is a potentially a gift. He will be sky-high and offers goal and assist threat with brilliant set-piece delivery too.
“Federico Chiesa would be my second pick. Listed as a €7.5m forward, he always turns it on when he wears the Italian jersey although I would have preferred to see him listed as a midfielder like many other wide forwards.
“Finally, Nicolo Barella (€7m) is one of my favourite players but I have always questioned if he’s a great Fantasy pick. He’s box-to-box but isn’t afraid to shoot when he gets the chance. His technical ability put him up there with the best in the world in his position.” – Gianni Buttice
FAN’S PREDICTED LINE-UP
(3-4-2-1) Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Bastoni; Bellanova, Barella, Jorginho, Dimarco; Chiesa, Pellegrini; Scamacca
STAY TUNED FOR MORE EURO 2024 COVERAGE!
A reminder that we’ll be covering the European Championship in great detail this summer.
Part of that coverage will be the usual team-by-team guides on all competing 24 nations in Euro 2024.
But we’ll also have team reveals, strategy guides and much more. The official UEFA Fantasy game will be the main game we’re covering, which you read about below:
There’ll also be £500+ worth of prizes if you join our mini-league! Click the below to sign up:
If you want to be part of our coverage and are a fan of one of the countries competing, do get involved via the below:
