MATCH INFO
Belgium and Italy meet in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals on Friday night, pitting two continental giants against each other.
The two teams meet at Munich's Allianz Arena, with the Belgians presently ranked number one in the world after going undefeated this season, while the Azzurri set a new national record by going 31 games without losing in the previous round.
Team News
Belgium may be missing two key players from the start, as both Kevin De Bruyne and captain Eden Hazard were forced to leave the game against Portugal due to injuries.
Hazard has a muscle issue, while De Bruyne has an ankle sprain, according to scans, but they will not be entirely fit for Friday's quarter-final encounter, according to Roberto Martinez.
Only the back-up goalkeepers have yet to play in Belgium's first four matches, with every single one of their 24 outfield players having seen action at some stage. Due to a knee injury acquired in the warm-up last week, one of the backup goalkeepers, Simon Mignolet, has been forced to withdraw from the squad, thus Thomas Kaminski has joined the camp as a replacement.
The wing-backs are poised to stay the same, with Thomas Meunier and Thorgan Hazard on the flanks and Axel Witsel and Youri Tielemans in the middle. Timothy Castagne was also ruled out after suffering facial fractures in the first encounter, so the wing-backs are set to stay the same.
However, the Italians have an another kind of choice dilemma, as Roberto Mancini must decide whether to promote Matteo Pessina and Manuel Locatelli to the starting XI. Marco Verratti, the PSG midfield maestro, has verified his comeback from an ongoing knee ailment with two excellent performances, but Nicolo Barella's spot appears to be in risk.
Due to a thigh ailment, senior captain Giorgio Chiellini trained separately from the rest of the team last week, while full-back Alessandro Florenzi could only do individual gym work, but both have returned to the Azzurri's Coverciano headquarters and might start.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo of Napoli will have to hope to preserve his spot ahead of Florenzi on the right side of the back four, with Francesco Acerbi's partnership with Leonardo Bonucci in the middle perhaps jeopardized. Acerbi did, however, play for the starting team during Thursday's practice session as a precaution, and the decision is still up in the air.
Mancini is anticipated to counter Belgium's lack of pace by sending in Federico Chiesa on the right side in place of Domenico Berardi, with the dynamic striker replicating Leonardo Spinazzola's dashing runs on the opposite wing.
Belgium possible starting lineup:
Courtois;
Vertonghen, Vermaelen, Alderweireld; T. Hazard, Witsel, Mertens,
Tielemans; Mertens, Lukaku, Carrasco
Italy possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma;
Chiellini, Bonucci, Di Lorenzo, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti;
Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne
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