EURO 2020 Preview: How can Italy stop Austria’s dangerous attacks and break their defence in the Round of 16 – tactical analysis

Italy will be facing Austria on June 26 at Wembley Stadium in the Round of 16 at EURO 2020. The game will surely be an intense one since both teams will strive towards a quarter-finals’ qualification. And the fact that the game will be played at a neutral stadium and country will make it even more challenging as neither team will have an additional advantage.

In this tactical analysis preview we will study both teams’ possible formations and line-ups while exploring how can Italy stop Austria’s attacks and how to be efficient upfront. This will be done by also looking at the strengths and weaknesses of Austria to provide readers with a meticulous overview of both teams’ tactics prior to the game.

Probable line-ups and formations

For this EURO 2020’s Round of 16, Roberto Mancini will most probably be relying on the same formation and players that he used for the first two games of the tournament. Resting the majority of these players for the match against Wales supports this idea since Mancini wanted to keep his main starting players fresh for this knockout phase given that they have already secured the qualification since the second match. Only few changes will be made for this match due to the injury of Giorgio Chiellini and the comeback of Marco Verratti.

Italy will play according to their usual 4-3-3 formation with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Leonardo Bonucci, Francesco Acerbi and Leonardo Spinazzola in defence, Nicolò Barella, Jorginho, Marco Verratti as central midfielders with Domenico Berardi and Lorenzo Insigne playing as wingers behind the striker Ciro Immobile.

For Austria, Franco Foda would stick to the formation that enabled him to win the last match against Ukraine after he tried the 3-4-3 and the 3-5-2 in the previous games. Therefore, Austria will most probably play according to the 4-2-3-1 formation that suits the players’ characteristics. However, the wingers will be asked to retreat so often in order to form a second defensive line with the defensive midfielders and not leave a lot of space for the Italian attacks. This means that the 4-2-3-1 will transform into a 4-4-2 formation when out of possession with Marcel Sabitzer and Marko Arnautović as the two attacking players.

Austria will rely on Daniel Bachmann as a goalkeeper, Stefan Lainer, Aleksandar Dragović, Martin Hinteregger who has recovered from his injury, and David Alaba in defence. The midfield would include Florian Grillitsch and Xaver Schlager as defensive midfielders, Marcel Sabitzer as an advanced playmaker with both Christoph Baumgartner and Konrad Laimer as wingers to support Marko Arnautović and at the same time defend when needed.