Spain coach: 'Nobody wants to be in the same group as Italy'

German coach Luis De La Fuente admitted the difficulty of being in Group B with Italy, Croatia and Albania at Euro 2024.

"Nobody wants to be in the same group as Italy," coach De La Fuente said after the Euro 2024 group stage draw on the evening of December 2. "They are a great team with real competitiveness. In recent years, with excellent players, Croatia has achieved good results. As for Albania, they topped the qualifying group."

From left are coaches Luciano Spalletti, Sylvinho, Zlatko Dalic and Luis De La Fuente of Italy, Albania, Croatia and Spain attending the Euro 2024 draw on the evening of December 2, in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: UEFA

To get through the group stage, De La Fuente stressed that Spain needed to start well. He focused on the first two matches against Croatia and Italy. However, he did not underestimate Albania. "My experience tells me that the teams that did well in qualifying will go into the finals with the highest concentration," De La Fuente added.

The Spain coach also hopes not to lose another player like Gavi. The Barca midfielder had to say goodbye to the Euro 2024 finals early, due to a knee ligament injury.

Spain qualified for the finals as the winners of qualifying Group A. Albania topped Group E, while Italy finished second in Group C and Croatia second in Group D. Because UEFA values qualifying results over historical achievements, Spain and Albania are seeded in Pots One and Two, while Croatia and defending champions Italy are seeded in Pots Three and Four.

Italy have won the Euro twice, in 1968 and 2021. Meanwhile, Spain have won three times, in 1964, 2008, 2012, and are one of the two teams with the most wins, along with Germany.

Spain have faced Italy in each of the last four Euro finals. In 2008, Spain won 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the quarter-finals. Four years later, the two teams drew 1-1 in the group stage and Spain won 4-0 in the final. But then Italy started to dominate. In 2016, Italy won 2-0 in the round of 16. In 2021, former coach Roberto Mancini's team won 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the semi-finals.

Thanh Quy (according to FI )

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