Buongiorno: Italy turned ‘bitterness’ into ‘focus’ after Germany defeat | OneFootball

Alessandro Buongiorno admits that the Italy players were left disappointed by the 2-1 defeat at home against Germany on Thursday night, but insists that the squad have turned their ‘bitterness’ into ‘focus’ ahead of the return leg in Dortmund on Sunday.

Italy trail 2-1 at the halfway stage of their Nations League quarter-final against Germany. Sandro Tonali opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes, before a pair of second-half headers from Tim Kleindienst and Leon Goretzka sent the visitors on their way to victory.

The Azzurri have an opportunity to turn things around when they take on Germany again at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday.

Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Italy, looks dejected after the team’s defeat in the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal leg one match between Italy and Germany at Stadio San Siro on March 20, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Buongiorno: ‘Bitterness normal, Italy immediately turned the page’

Spalletti has revealed that there will be around four changes to his line-up, and one of them is expected to be Buongiorno coming in at centre-back to replace the injured Riccardo Calafiori.

Speaking to Vivo Azzurro TV ahead of the return leg on Sunday, Buongiorno said that he thinks Italy are able to pull off a comeback if they keep the right ‘spirit’.

“We’ve prepared for the game over the last two days, we’ve reviewed the mistakes of Thursday’s game a bit and we will definitely arrive in Germany with the right spirit,” he said, reported via TMW.

He continued: “It’s normal that there was a bit of bitterness about the result immediately afterwards, but we immediately turned the page by starting to focus on the second le. We will get there with great spirit.”

“The games are all there to be played, so we will see. We will go in at our best.”