Its here, finally. After being pushed back by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, EURO 2020 finally kicks off on Friday night in Rome, where Italy will face Turkey in the opening match, before moving on to the other 10 host cities. The Azzurri have had an extremely impressive time under Roberto Mancini they are currently on a 26-match unbeaten run, which is the second-longest run in the history of the national side, and arrive at this tournament at that sweet spot where expectations are not too high, but they possess enough talent and are in good enough form to be a contender for the title itself. Turkey are also being spoken about as one of the dark horses of this tournament Şenol Güneş has assembled one of the youngest sides of the tournament, with experience from the likes of the rejuvenated captain Burak Yılmaz, and they could be a candidate to go far with their blend of youth and experience. Thus, the EURO 2020 opener will lay down an early marker of what we can expect from both these teams, and this tactical preview will aim to break down their potential tactics through our analysis.
Expected lineups
Güneş has a number of exciting and talented options at his disposal, and this is the side we expect him to put out. Lilles title-winning trio of Yılmaz, Zeki Çelik and Yusuf Yazıcı will all start, while AC Milans Hakan Çalhanoğlu will play a big role in terms of the teams creativity. Okay Yokuşlu will sit back and protect the defence, which will consist of Çelik, Merih Demiral, Çağlar Söyüncü and Umut Meraş, with Ozan Tufan and Çalhanoğlu alongside him, and Yazıcı, Yılmaz and Kenan Karaman as the front three. Uğurcan Çakır will be in goal.
For the Azzurri, Gianluigi Donnarumma will start in goal, with a back four of Alessandro Florenzi, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Spinazzola. Italy have one of the most technically proficient midfields in the entire tournament. However, they do have some injury concerns Stefano Sensi was ruled out before the start of the tournament, being replaced by Atalantas Matteo Pessina, while Lorenzo Pellegrini has also now been injured, with Gaetano Castrovilli as his provisional replacement. On top of this, Marco Verratti is yet to train with the team, so it is unlikely that he will be in this starting XI, so we expect a midfield trio of Jorginho, Nicolò Barella and Manuel Locatelli. Out wide, we expect the Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne and Sassuolos Domenico Berardi to start, with Ciro Immobile leading the line.
