Lessons from Euro’s Matchday 2: These aren’t your nonno’s Azzurri

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This article was published 19/06/2021 (1903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Super Saturday brought an end to Matchday 2, the second block of Euro 2020’s round-robin games, with the most exciting day yet.

• World champion France was tested in front of 67,000 in Budapest and saved from an embarrassing upset to Hungary by Antoine Griezmann. Barcelona fans must have watched with envy as the Frenchman played with a composure and confidence he has been unable to replicate consistently for the Spanish club.

I do hope Hungarian goal hero Attila Fiola replaced any equipment he damaged when he celebrated his monumental goal by destroying a helpless journalist’s work station, like a bachelor partygoer running wild.

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• A must-win match for Germany against the defending European champions was must-watch TV from the start. Portugal coach Fernando Santos rolled out the same defensive-minded 11 that started in Portugal’s first match, and still conceded four goals against a German team that previously hadn’t proven it was capable of scoring four goals without a traditional number nine.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored again and needs just two more goals to tie the men’s all-time international goal-scoring record, a feat Portuguese fans will be hoping he achieves in Portugal’s final group stage match against France on Wednesday. There will be plenty of questions asked of Santos after Saturday’s destructive performance, but we got plenty of answers about this German team.

• How Luis Enrique would use forwards Álvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno was a big question coming in to Euro. The Spain coach opted to start both against Poland, but the attacking duo couldn’t even combine to convert Moreno’s missed penalty chance in a 1-1 draw. Morata’s gaffe must have left David Villa and Fernando Torres weeping as they watched helplessly from the comforts of retirement.

• It’s clear that this is not your nonno’s Italy. I’m not Italian. I don’t have a nonno. But I’ve watched Italy for more than 25 years and have never enjoyed watching the Azzurri as much as I enjoy watching Roberto Mancini’s men. The renaissance under the former Manchester City manager has put the failure of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in the rearview mirror and has relegated catenaccio — literally a door-bolt defence — to the way Italy used to play.

Great sides can only truly be measured against other great sides. Turkey and Switzerland are not. But there isn’t a team in this tournament that wants to be drawn against Italy in the knockout round. They may just be, the most complete side in this tournament.