Luciano Spalletti on Italy’s Euro 2024 qualification: “It wasn’t easy” | OneFootball

Italy manager Luciano Spalletti has spoken out after the Azzurri picked up a point from their game against Ukraine to qualify for the Euros in 2024.

Italy will be defending their European Championships crown next year in Germany, as they needed only a point against Ukraine to qualify. In what was a very physical and high-intensity game, Ukraine could have won a penalty late in the game as Bryan Cristante seemed to have brought down Mykhailo Mudryk but VAR didn’t even stop play to check the offence.

Luckily, Italy held on for a goalless draw and Spalletti spoke to Rai Sport (via TMW) after the game, praising Ukraine for their performance.

The ex-Napoli boss said: “It wasn’t easy and nothing can be taken for granted in football in general. Today, we played a good match because in the first half we had many opportunities to secure the result. Then when you didn’t manage to do so, the match became dirtier and more physical. They put in more physical players but in at that moment we no longer play football. Ukraine showed that they are an equipped team and that they gave us a hard time.”

Italy seem on track to finish second in their group, as they are currently six points behind leaders England. They have lost two matches in the qualification stages and both of them were against England, who already sealed their passage to the tournament next year.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN