Italy sighs of relief and will be in the Eurocup without the need for a play-off
A deep sigh of relief passed from Turin to Catania. Italy will be in the European Championship in Germany without having to go through a stressful play-off. It was already strange to see the current champions suffering in a group in which England took off, but where they had a hard time getting rid of Ukraine, Malta and North Macedonia, the ogre that left them without the World Cup in Qatar in the play-offs.. That is the burden that the Italians carry, who despite their four World Cups, have seen the last two on television. Nothing like this has happened to them since 1958.. Also missing the European event would have been a catastrophe.
Ukraine took the field with the players wrapped in their national flag and the stands of the BayArena in Leverkussen surrendered. Being in the Euro is his contribution to alleviating the pain of his people at war. He gave Italy the first scare with a powerful shot from Tsygankov that Donnarumma caught. Enough to remind the Azzurri where they were and what was at stake.. Chiesa woke up to become the nightmare of a defense that was trying to be serious and resist. He scored an assist from Zaniolo from the far post but the ball went over the crossbar.. Spalletti's team could not maintain its harassment because every Ukrainian robbery created an opportunity. Donnarumma's hand had to appear to deflect Sudakov's blow. The duel was back and forth, although if the game passed through Chiesa it became electrified. Barella tried from the front and goalkeeper Trubin prevented Di Marco from scoring in a play linked, of course, by Chiesa.
The passage through the locker room encouraged the Ukrainians, who shook off their dominance and, with little to lose, launched themselves. At close range, Donnarumma once again saved the error of his defense that Mudryck was about to take advantage of.. The Slavs even asked Gil Manzano for a penalty in the 90th minute, but Italy held on.
They breathed, as did the Czech Republic with their 3-0 victory against Moldova that puts them directly into the Euro, where Jan Oblak's Slovenia will also be after winning 2-1 against Kazakhstan.
Croatia's last bullet
Croatia wants the remaining direct spot and they will play today against Armenia. Modric's team needs to maintain the two points advantage it has over Wales, which closes this classification by hosting Turkey, with the ticket to Germany in its pocket.
The homework has already been done by 19 teams that will join the host and await Croatia or Wales. They are Spain, Scotland, France, the Netherlands, England, Turkey, Albania, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, Romania, Switzerland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and the Czech Republic.. It will take an extra effort for three others to reach the top European competition.
They will have to do it via playoff with a playoff that will take place between March 21 and 26. In this Thursday's draw, twelve teams will be divided into three groups of four teams that will compete in two semifinals and a final. The three winners will complete the 24 qualifiers. Some with pedigree such as Poland or Greece will have to go through this ordeal, as well as Georgia, Bosnia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Finland, Luxembourg, Iceland, Estonia, Ukraine and Wales or Croatia.