#2 Italy maintained their shape well to frustrate Spain
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Julen Lopetegui had set his team up nicely and their passing was crisp, especially in the first half. But in spite of 73% possession and 91% pass success, they simply couldn’t break through the Italian defence.
The Azzurri were deployed in a 5-3-2 off the ball and there was little Spain could do to find a way through, especially in the first half. Alessio Romagnoli, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli were well protected and Iniesta was at times the lone midfielder looking to thread a ball through under pressure from all sides.
With little to no space between the lines, Spain struggled with their passing in the final third as Italy camped inside their own box for most of the first half. Their tactics saw Spain resort to crosses into the box with their big men Ramos and Pique coming closest to scoring with headers in an eventful first half.
Spain’s passing game saw Koke as the fulcrum as Iniesta, in a more advanced position, was heavily marked by Italy whenever the ball made its way to him.
