Losing to Germany, Italy Falls into the Same Hole

MILAN, FRIDAY – Italy failed to capitalize on their home match after losing 1-2 to Germany in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Milan, Friday (21/3/2025) early morning WIB. The defeat, caused by weaknesses in set-piece anticipation and aerial duels, was also experienced by the "Azzurri" in their previous match against France. Falling into the same trap twice indicates no significant progress for Italy under coach Luciano Spalletti.

The result makes Italy's struggle to qualify for the semifinals very challenging, as they must outperform Germany at its home ground in the second meeting. Since the group stage, Germany has consistently secured victories when playing in front of its own supporters.

This defeat repeats the previous carelessness when facing France in the group stage. At that time, Italy, playing at their home ground, was defeated 1-3. All three of France's goals originated from set-piece situations. Two of them were the result of the Italian players' weakness in aerial duels.

There were differences in decisive moments, as they took advantage of their additional height and some opportunities they created. Meanwhile, we did not do the same.

Four months later, the weakness remained unresolved. Germany scored two goals through headers by Tim Kleindienst and Leon Goretzka. Kleindienst skillfully broke free from the marking of Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Alessandro Bastoni, allowing him to head the ball with ease. Meanwhile, Goretzka's goal originated from a corner kick scheme. Goretzka's movement in anticipating the incoming ball could not be prevented by the Italian defenders.

Spalletti denied that there is a gap in strength between Italy and Germany. According to him, the capabilities of Italy and Germany are balanced. Therefore, he still feels confident about achieving a positive result in their second meeting.

"There was a difference in the decisive moments, because they took advantage of the extra height and the chances they created. We didn't do the same," Spalletti was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

Conceding two goals from recurring patterns by France and Germany indicates an unresolved issue by Spalletti. The matter of height is not the main problem for Italy. They are simply less adept at anticipating aerial balls and unable to read the direction of the attack.

That is why Italy still conceded even though they brought on defender Raoul Bellanova in the second half. One of Spalletti's considerations in playing Bellanova was because the Atalanta defender was considered to have the height to match the German attacker. Even after Bellanova came on, Italy still conceded a goal to Goretzka.

The defeat to Germany was a shame because Italy was able to take the lead through Sandro Tonali's kick when the match had only been going on for nine minutes. Tonali, who this time acted as an attacking midfielder, read the direction the ball was coming from very well. When defender Jonathan Tah was about to secure the German penalty box area, the ball he threw fell to Tonali's feet.

The Newcastle United midfielder can be said to be the lifeblood of Italy's game. From Tonali's creativity, Italy was able to create two golden opportunities. In addition, Tonali's accurate passes did not mean much for Italy due to the injury of clinical striker Mateo Retegui. Of the six shots on target created by Italy, only one resulted in a goal.

Meanwhile, German coach Julian Nagelsmann praised the performance of his players who were able to rise and turn things around. With this victory, Germany has one foot in the semifinals. Even so, he admitted that he was not satisfied with the performance of his players in the first half who dominated possession but had minimal opportunities.

"I'm very happy because we managed to come back from 0-1 down and win the game. We spoke before the game that we wanted to win both games," said Nagelsmann.

"I'm looking forward to another game in a big stadium. Our fans were very loud today. I hope they will be even louder on Sunday (the second meeting against Italy)," he continued.

Germany is a strong candidate to win the 2024-2025 European National League. Since the group stage, they have never been touched by defeat. The "Panzer" team is also recorded as the most productive with an average of 2.9 goals per match. In terms of defense, they only concede an average of 0.7 goals per match.

Since its inception in 2018, Germany has never won the European Nations League despite being world champions four times. With Nagelsmann, they are slowly realizing their dream of becoming champions for the first time in this year's edition. (REUTERS)