Tied on points, Italy and Ukraine are competing for a ticket to Euro 2024. Crowned in 2021, the Squadra Azzurra must not lose to defend their title in Germany.

Trajkovski’s 20-yard cross strike still haunts the dreams of Italian football. No one on the other side of the Alps has forgotten this moment, at the end of added time which sent the Squadra Azzurra to their regrets, and deprived them of the World Cup in Qatar. Especially not a year and a half later when Italy once again finds itself on the edge of the precipice. No question of play-offs on hostile grounds, but a final qualifying match on neutral ground against Ukraine. “It is one of those days that can become your greatest achievement, your greatest regret or remorse (…) Many want to scare us by reminding us of the importance and objective of the match, but the motivation goes to beyond fear,” Luciano Spalletti tried to reassure.

Never two failures in a row

Motivation increased tenfold by the desire to remember that Italy is a major football nation, which has never missed two major competitions in a row. As a symbol, on Friday, the Azzurri took a bite out of the former Macedonian executioner in Rome (5-2). An eminently valuable success but deceptive as Chiesa and his partners played to scare each other, seeing their opponents return to 3-2 while they were leading 3-0.

A breath of fresh air after returning from the locker room that they will not be able to afford in Leverkusen against Ukraine. Indeed, the Slavic selection has more qualities than the Macedonians and will not be asked to sanction Italian mistakes. “They have a set of strong and powerful attackers and players who are in good form at club level. Their counter-attacking ability could also pose problems for us,” Spalletti analyzed. Far from revealing his plan, the transalpine coach deliberately left doubts in particular about his offensive animation and his hesitation displayed between Raspadori and Scamacca at the forefront. One thing is certain, he prepared his men for different scenarios. In a position of strength since a draw is enough for his team to qualify for their ticket to Germany, the former Naples coach knows that Ukraine will have to discover itself at one point or another and is counting on that to trap them.

Ukraine must win

If Italy assures that it does not fear the meeting, Ukraine has nothing to lose. Beaten at San Siro (1-2), Serhiy Rebrov’s selection has no choice, the path leading to the Euro will only go through a victory. A challenge when we know that she never managed to defeat the Squadra Azzurra. However, nothing seems to undermine Ukrainian morale. “We want to give positive emotions to our people, knowing that the national team can support our soldiers in its own way. We hardly need additional motivation for a match like this,” said the Ukrainian coach.

The latter is convinced that today’s match will be “different” from that of last September with a stadium committed to the cause of its players. Even more than this popular support, the Ukrainian selection will be driven by the desire to make an entire country proud and to offer it a ray of sunshine in a daily life scarred by war.

What time will the Ukraine – Italy match take place?

The last Group C match counting for the Euro 2024 qualifiers between Ukraine and Italy will take place from 8:45 p.m. at the BayArena in Leverkusen. Like all the Ukrainians’ home matches since the start of the qualifying phase, this one was relocated due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The meeting between Ukraine and Italy will be broadcast live and unencrypted on the L’Equipe channel.

The meeting between Serhiy Rebrov’s Ukraine and Luciano Spalletti’s Italy will be available in streaming on the L’Equipe Live platform and on the lequipe.fr website.

BetClic: Ukraine: 4.07 / Nil: 3.60 / Italy: 1.86

Sports Bet: Ukraine: 4.10 / Draw: 3.60 / Italy: 1.86

Winamax: Ukraine: 4.10 / Draw: 3.60 / Italy: 1.86

Ukraine: Trubin – Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Mykolenko – Sydorchuk, Zinchenko, Konoplya, Sudakov, Mudryk – Dovbyk.

Italy: Donnarumma – Di Lorenzi, Gatti, Acerbi, Dimarco – Jorginho, Barella, Frattesi – Berardi, Chiesa, Raspadori.