Euro 2024 qualifications: Italy has no choice and must "imperatively beat Ukraine"

Italy has no choice after its draw in Skopje (1-1) on Saturday, according to Giovanni di Lorenzo: it must "imperatively beat Ukraine" Tuesday in Milan to keep its chances of participating in Euro-2024 .

“We knew that this match against Ukraine, even before our draw (in North Macedonia, Editor’s note), would be important for us. We are playing at home and even if we haven't had much time to prepare for it, we absolutely have to beat Ukraine,” said the Napoli defender.

“We analyzed their matches on video, but what matters most is what we are going to do on the pitch,” he continued. Di Lorenzo, 30, also returned to the draw in Skopje where Italy opened the scoring before losing ground after the hour mark and conceding the equalizing goal from a free kick. “We can only look at the final score, but we can also see that many of our actions could have ended differently. At this level, it is the details that make the difference and we will have to (Tuesday) take advantage of the fact that we are playing at home,” he hoped.

After three matches (a victory against Malta, a draw against North Macedonia and a defeat against England), Italy, the reigning European champion, is 3rd in Group C with four points. She is nine points behind the English leader (13 pts) and three behind Ukraine (7 pts) who have played two matches and one more match respectively.