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Key events
31 minutes: An example in this regard: Italy tries to play the ball in behind, but Barella gives it to Aebisher just outside his own penalty area. Italy missed this one when Rodriguez fired high over the bar from distance.
29 minutes: Italy really struggling to get the ball past the halfway line, suffering from a well organized press from the Swiss. Occasional attempts to win the ball are the bread and butter of the Swiss defenders, who have handled them comfortably so far.
28 minutes: Embolo keeps the ball in Italy penalty area before playing right and wide to Ndoye. He advances towards goal and his low shot is blocked by Bastoni.
27 minutes: Federico Chiesa’s low shot towards Switzerland’s goal is blocked by Manuel Akanji. From a corner, Froyler put the ball in for another at the near post. Switzerland clearly that too, with Akanji doing the honors.
24 minutes: Breel Embolo was played in behind the Italian defense and with only Donnarumma to beat, he was saved by the onrushing keeper. The Swiss striker really telegraphed his intentions there and I suspect he may have felt he was being ambushed. Italy’s players certainly thought it was… but replays suggest otherwise. This should be defined as a really bad miss by Embolo.
22 minutes: with Switzerland pressing and breaking around the edge of the Italian penalty area, Fabian Ridder coughed up cheap possession, tipping over a pass and sending the ball rolling for a goal;-kick. The Swiss are on top here, but lack a bit of cutting-edge edge.
20 minutes: Showing no ill effects from his earlier injury, Barella curled a direct free-kick over the Swiss wall, leveling Di Lorenzo with a shot from a tight angle. The defender misses the ball and is flagged for offside. He didn’t need to be and with better timing running and shooting he could have scored Italy forward.
17 minutes: Switzerland break up in four on three but Vargas picks the wrong pass. A promising move ends with Embolo curling the ball harmlessly into Donnarumma’s gloves. Ndoye was in a much better position on the right, in acres of space, screaming for the ball. I don’t think Vargas saw it.
16 minutes: Chiesa slips Cristante in behind on the right and his cross is headed for a corner. Fagioli’s serve is deep, but Rieder and Schar are clear of each other.
15 minutes: There is another break in play as Granit Xhaka goes down for no apparent reason. Something is wrong with him, but I don’t know what. He quickly gets back to his feet and the game resumes.
12 minutes: There are now two Swiss players in the deck. Vargas is one of them after being fouled by Di Lorenzo on the touchline. The Italian was lucky to escape a booking but already looks resigned to a tough day at the office. Aebischer’s free-kick from outside is weak and the ball goes into the waiting gloves of Donnarumma.
11 minutes: Barella soldiers on for now, moments before Vargas beats Di Lorenzo again on the left. And in this case, he cannot choose a teammate.
9 minutes: Niccolò Barella is on the ground rolling in pain after a fairly innocuous-looking run-in with Remo Frouiller. Looks like him could, could they pulled his hamstring. He will be a huge loss for Italy if he has to leave.
7 minutes: Michel Ebischer and Vargas exchange passes as Switzerland try to advance down the left flank. All 11 Italian players returned to their own half, lined up in a 4-5-1.
7 minutes: Stefan El Shaaraoui received the ball in the Swiss box but his attempted cross to Gianluca Scamakka was blocked.
6 minutes: Dan Ndoye is penalized for something or other on the touchline near the halfway line. Italy get a free kick and a chance to enjoy possession of the ball.
5 minutes: Martin Vargas gets the better of Giovanni di Lorenzo on the left flank and sends in a beautiful cross. It is directed clearly.
4 minutes: Ricardo Rodríguez played a long pass forward to chase down Remo Frouiller down the left. There is too much speed on the ball and it rolls out of play.
2 minutes: Nicolo Barella brings down Granit Xhaka with a fortuitously errant hand and the Swiss win a free-kick just inside their own half.
1 minute: Switzerland forward immediately with Breel Embolo on the ball. His attempt to cross cannons and from that the Swiss wins the first corner of the match. Gianluca Mancini heads the ball into the box.
Switzerland vs Italy is over…
1 minute: With Italian FIFA president Gianni Infantino, born in Switzerland, watching from the stands with his UEFA counterpart Aleksandar Ceferin, Switzerland spin the ball.
Not so long after that: Referee Szymon Marciniak and his team of match officials bring out the players from both sides of the match at Berlin’s Olympiastadion for the first of Euro 2024 knockout matches.
The Tour de France started in Italy today and the grueling first stage is over just at the best time for Italian and Swiss cycling enthusiasts to switch channels and cheer on their national football team. Neither side produced a winner in today’s stage, in which French legend Romain Bardet triumphed. Anyway, back to football…
Fun fact: This is Italy’s first match in this city and at this stadium since they beat France on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final. It wouldn’t be a big surprise if this match was also decided by penalty kicks.
Round of 16: match-by-match analysis
The first phase of the eliminations features some intriguing matches, including Spain v Georgia and France v Belgium, writes Jonathan Wilson…
Match officials today
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Referee: Shimon Marciniak
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Referee assistants: Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik
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Fourth Referee: Facundo Body
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Video Assistant Referee: Facundo Body
Execution of penalties
Does anyone have a worse record than England? Can any team better Germany’s habit of success? Alex Reed looks at the numbers…
These teams: Cries. Luciano Spalletti makes no fewer than six changes to the team that left him out late on against Croatia. Gianluca Mancini comes in for the suspended Riccardo Calafiori, while Stefan El Shaaraoui, Gianluca Scamaca, Federico Chiesa, Niccolò Fagioli and Brian Cristante also start.
There is only one change to Switzerland’s squad, which they made against Germany last time out. Martin Vargas replaces Silvan Vidmar, who joins Calafiori in the Uefa Naughty Step.
Squads for Switzerland vs Italy
Switzerland: Sommer, Akanji, Rodríguez, Schar, Frouiller, Xhaka, Ridder, Ebischer, Embolo, Vargas, Ndoye.
subtitles: Stergiu, Elvedi, Zakaria, Okafor, Steffen, Mwogo, Zuber, Zesiger, Ciero, Dua, Kobel, Shaqiri, Yashari, Amduni.
Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Darmian; Barella, Fagioli, Cristante; Kiesza, Skamaka, El Shaarawi
subtitles: Buongiorno, Gatti, Fratesi, Jorginho, Pellegrini, Raspadori, Vicario, Bellanova, Reteghi, Zaccani, Cambiaso, Folorunsho, Meret, Dimarco.
Italy: While many Italians were relieved to see Croatia through, their national team manager Luciano Spalletti still believes he has more to prove Euro 2024. Nikki Bandini reports…
Early team news
Mainz right-back Silvan Vidmar misses this game through suspension and Swiss manager Murat Yakin is likely to call up Leonidas Stergiu, who is with Stuttgart, in his place.
Picked up twice during the group stage, Liverpool target Ricardo Calafiori misses out Italy, with Gianluca Mancini likely to step up in his absence. Left-back Federico Dimarco is out with a calf injury and could be replaced by Matteo Darmian, who featured in all three of Italy’s group games.
Round of 16: Switzerland vs Italy
Berlin’s Olympiastadion is the venue for the first of the Round of 16 between Switzerland and Italy, who meet for the third time after the holders pushed the Swiss aside in the group stage on the way to winning the last Euro. Reporting on that match for the Guardian, Jonathan Liew said that “this Italy team has been the revelation of the tournament so far”, but four years into the current iteration of the Azzurri have been relatively unimpressive. However, they have not lost against Switzerland in any of their last 11 meetings in all competitions.
The Swiss emerged from Group A unbeaten but had to settle for second place behind Germany after Niclas Fullkrug’s late equalizer denied them victory against Euro 2024 hosts. Having drawn twice with Italy in qualifying for the last World Cup and largely impressing so far in this tournament, they will fancy their chances of scoring a rare win over Luciano Spalletti’s side today. Kick-off in Berlin is at 17:00 (BST), but we’ll have plenty of team and build-up news in the meantime.
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