Italy vs Germany: Why their latest Nations League clash matters | OneFootball

It is one of international football’s elite fixtures and always so much more than a glorified friendly. Giancarlo Rinaldi looks ahead to the latest chapter of Italy’s epic rivalry with Germany.

Anyone who thinks it is only the Nations League should look away now. When two giants of the global game lock horns, the sparks are always likely to fly. And, for Luciano Spalletti’s Azzurri, a clash with Germany is an ideal opportunity to measure exactly what progress they have made since a disappointing defence of their Euro 2020 crown.

It was just last summer, remember, that Switzerland eased past Italy in their last 16 encounter to spark yet another bout of soul-searching from Savona to Salerno. There is rarely any middle ground with La Nazionale these days, if there ever was, and – in the eyes of fans – they have lurched from continental champions to World Cup chumps with alarming speed. The last nine months or so have seen a slow rebuilding of a crumbling reputation.

Adrien Rabiot of France scores his team’s third goal during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A2 match between Italy and France at San Siro on November 17, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Drawn in a potentially tricky Nations League group with France, Belgium and Israel, Italy qualified for the quarter-final stage in some style. A win away to Les Bleus was a high point in their revival but a defeat in the return leg brought a dose of reality to proceedings. Still, if nothing else, their new boss showed he was willing to give new faces a chance and start the latest regeneration game.

That is why this clash with Germany—who look likely to be missing a number of key attackers—is such an important one to take a further step forward. Not only would victory take Italy to the semi-finals, but it would also allow them to host the final phase of the tournament in June. For a national team that has lost a lot of its lustre in recent times, that would represent a double-whammy of delight. Furthermore, beating Germany would allow the Azzurri to avoid a tricky meeting with Erling Haaland in the World Cup qualifiers.

Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Italy, interacts with Mateo Retegui of Italy after the team’s defeat in the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Spain and Italy at Arena AufSchalke on June 20, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images for FIGC)

The biggest absentee is Inter’s Federico Dimarco who has been in the form of his life of late. There are plenty of alternatives to play as the left wing-back in Spalletti’s 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 but none of them offers quite what he does. That will be one conundrum to resolve if the Azzurri hope to progress to a summer showdown.

It is great to see brand new or relatively new faces like Matteo Ruggeri of Atalanta, Cesare Casadei of Torino (who has looked outstanding at youth levels) and Pietro Comuzzo of Fiorentina make the squad. They are not likely to start any games but they will be getting vital experience as part of this particular adventure.

If the Samuele Ricci, Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Barella midfield unit can confirm its rising tide that would be a big help. And Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean need to show that their Serie A form can work for their country. If one – or ideally both – of them emerge as strikers of international quality then that would be a major help in keeping crawling up the FIFA ranking ladder.

Above all, though, this will be about restoring a bit of the fear factor that the Azzurri used to induce in opponents. Some of their greatest ever games have come against German opposition – think 1970, 1982 or 2006 – and they could do with another statement win. Defeat need not be a disaster, if the performance is strong enough, but a victory would certainly be a welcome tonic. Missing another World Cup would be an outright disaster and getting to the final four of the Nations League could be another indication that Italy are back on the right track after so many false turns in the last few years.