Italy vs Turkey EURO 2020

The day has come for the long awaited opening match: Italy vs Turkey at the EURO 2020 will face each other on Friday, 11 June. The game will take place at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Get ready for the start of the European Championship with our preview.

Italy vs Turkey on TV
🕐 Friday, 11 June, at 8pm
📺 BBC
🏟️ Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Italy: The sky is the limit

Italy had a solid Euro in 2016. They managed to beat Spain in the last 16, but were defeated by Germany on a penalty-shoot out in the quarterfinals. Antonio Conte was the manager back then.

Now Italy has entered into a new era under Paolo Mancini. Mancini signed with Italy a few months after they failed to qualify for the World Cup. However, the Italian ex Manchester City Coach restored normality and led Italy to the Euros by gaining 30 out of 30 possible points in its qualifying Group. Not only did Italy not lose a single point in the qualifiers, Mancini’s Italy scored 37 goals and conceded only 4.

The Azzuri arrives at the tournament in tremendous form as they look forward to lifting the trophy for the second time in their history. The first obstacle they face are the young hungry lions of Turkey.

Turkey: With passion into the next round

Turkey wants to make up for their disappointing performance during their last European Championship appearance, which ended in a group-stage exit in 2016. Their ultimate goal is to go through the group stage, no matter the position. A potential surprise against the favourites of the group would give them an early advantage against their other competitors (Switzerland and Wales). According to Turkish manager Senol Gunes ‘surprises in every opening game’ and he hopes his team will manage to surprise, too.

Turkey had a strong qualifying phase as they finished second in their group with only 2 points behind the World Champions France. They were also the best defensive team as they conceded just 3 goals.

Both Turkey and Italy are known for their passion on the pitch. The fact, that some fans will be allowed to enter the Stadio Olimpico (even though a 25% capacity of the stadium is allowed only), gives hope for a fierce opening match.

Head to Head history

Turkey wins: 0

Draws: 3

Italy wins: 7

Italy is the bogey opponent for Turkey. They are unbeaten in all 10 previous meetings with Turkey. However, their last two games ended with a 1-1 draw. Moreover, Turkey has never been able to score two or more goals against Italy in a single match.

Expectation and Prediction

The two best defensive teams of the qualifiers face each other for the opener of the EURO’s. As mentioned previously, the element of passion is expected to be there. Italy will have the slight advantage of being the host. Often have we seen opening matches with focus on the defence, and without lots of opportunities. Furthermore, both teams have performed defensively strong in the recent months. Conclusively, we are expecting an intense match with only a few chances, which Italy could manage to turn into their favour by a close margin.

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