Spain vs. Italy: 7 Things We Learned from Euro 2012 Group C Clash of Titans

It was billed as one of Euro 2012's headline games early on, and it certainly didn't disappoint. In Group C's Clash of the Titans, we saw two very different tactical approaches to the game collide, and in the end both Spain and Italy left with a share of the spoils.

But in truth, the game could've gone either way. Balotelli squandered a beautiful chance to score in the second half when Sergio Ramos made a costly error, and Fernando Torres had at least two good opportunities to score that he failed to capitalize on.

All in all, it was great to see Italy and Spain going for each others' jugulars from the start, and adopting rather risky tactics in a game of this magnitude. 

Where do they go from here, and what did we learn about their respective chances of going all the way in Euro 2012? We'll talk about that and more in the coming slides.

Even the Best Midfielders Need a Focal Point

It is an accepted fact that Spain boasts the best group of midfielders on the planet. Only a handful of midfielders can match the quality of David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and Iniesta individually.

Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets are very high-caliber midfielders as well, even if they're more defensive than offensive.

But as much as we'd like it to, real-life football does not play out the way it might on FIFA 12. You cannot simply play your "best" individual players and hope that they'll find a way to complement each other.

That is why Spain struggled to produce good scoring chances for much of this game against Italy. They retained possession and made numerous passes, but they clearly lacked the cutting edge that a striker brings.

In fact, were it not for Silva's exquisite pass to Fabregas for Spain's equalizer, Vicente Del Bosque would've probably been torn apart by the media for the failure of his rather audacious tactics.

As it stands, Spain's 1-1 draw will save Del Bosque a mountain of criticism, and allow him to learn from his mistakes without extreme pressure. Say what you like about Torres' finishing, but it was his runs and positioning that made Spain significantly more dangerous in the closing stages of the game.

With a more confident Torres, or possibly Llorente or Negrado, Spain will be much dangerous and lethal in the rest of the tournament.

Unconvincing Display from Spain's Defense

Iker Casillas was left exposed by his defense all night. Had Balotelli not been awfully off form, Italy would've definitely had two goals in this game. The fact that they were repeatedly put under pressure and exploited by a forward who hardly played in 11/12 (Antonio Cassano) should not be ignored either.

On the flanks, Jordi Alba and Alvaro Arbeloa were not convincing. Arbeloa and Emmanuele Giaccherini of Italy effectively neutralized each other; but that shouldn't be the case when Arbeloa has 36 more caps than Giaccherini.

Arbeloa was supposed to provide Spain's offense with width, but in the few times he did make it down the pitch, his crossing was off and he was easily dispossessed.

Alba was slightly more involved in Spain's offense than Arbeloa, but he too was neutralized by Italian counterpart Christian Maggio.

But it in the center of defense that Casillas was most let down. Ramos had an awful game; aside from his error with Balotelli, he was the defender who stepped up to put Antonio Di Natale in on goal. Of course, Pirlo deserved credit for putting Ramos in such a difficult position, but it was another case of Ramos messing up for Spain.

And Pique wasn't much better. He was the man closest to Di Natale on his goal, and he was beaten by Di Natale for at least two more chances later in the game. Clearly being dropped for so many games for Barca this past season has not helped his confidence.

Normally Spain would have Puyol to right the ship in a scenario like this, but Puyol is injured and out for the tournament. A formation change with a central striker should see Spain's defense put under less pressure though, especially when the full-backs have wide midfielders to link up with.

Why Hasn't Daniele De Rossi Been a Centre-Back His Whole Career?

All eyes were on Daniele De Rossi today as he made his debut for the Italian national team as a centre-back, after 73 caps as a defensive midfielder.

He really could not have put in a finer display.

Three solid tackles, five interceptions, three clearances, two shots blocked, two offsides won, eight accurate long balls and, best of all, no yellow cards.

It really makes you wonder why he hasn't been a centre-back for his entire career.

While the success of the 3-5-2 system adopted by Cesare Prandelli is still up in the air, there's no doubt about De Rossi's performance. He put on a defensive master class, and hopefully we'll see more him at centre-back.

Balotelli Was Italy's Fourth Best Striker on the Night

There were times when you could tell that Balotelli really wanted to do well for his country, but wasn't able to. This was visible especially when he banged his fist into the turf.

But on other occasions, Balotelli's behavior was completely befuddling. His constant petulance in making silly tackles was irritating to fans and the ref alike, and eventually earned him a yellow card.

His lackluster stride towards goal was disappointing as well; granted, Casillas had the angle narrowed mightily well, but Balotelli could've at least tested him with a shot.

The most disappointing/unfortunate news for Balotelli for the night though will be how well his competition did.

Cassano was a nuisance for Spain's defense before being subbed out around the 66th minute mark. His replacement, Sebastian Giovinco, was almost equally as dangerous; he produced a real moment of skill in the 77th minute almost resulted in a winning goal for Italy.

Di Natale was of course the scorer of Italy's goal, but he was also a threat to Spain afterwards, linking up well with his teammates and nearly scoring on Giovinco's lob.

Balotelli will likely get another chance to impress for Italy in their next game, as he should. But if he can't produce in that match either, I'd expect him to get replaced by Di Natale. He may be 34, but Di Natale's a player who's only gotten better with age.

Do Spain Need Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets?

This may come as a surprise since I consider myself a Real Madrid fan, but I'm actually a Xabi Alonso-hater. Or rather, I just don't appreciate what he does, even though I recognize that the stats show that he does a lot.

Still, despite those stats, I feel as though Xabi Alonso is a bit redundant in a side like Spain. Sergio Busquets is in the team to bring exactly what Xabi Alonso brings: tackling and passing. And even if Alonso is a better passer than Busquets, he's not a better passer than Xavi.

The reason this is an issue is because Spain will need to sacrifice one of their six midfielders for a striker. David Silva, Iniesta and Xavi should be no-question starters; they all performed well throughout the game and have too much quality to be dropped.

That leaves Busquets, Xabi Alonso and Fabregas. Busquets is too defensively disciplined to be dropped; the whole idea of starting Xabi Alonso and Busquets together is to ensure that Spain's "fragile" defense is well-covered.

So that leaves Xabi Alonso and Fabregas. Though it wouldn't hurt Spain too much to drop Fabregas to the bench and have Xavi play as an attacking midfielder flanked by Iniesta and Silva, I think Spain would be more potent with Xavi pulling the strings from deep beside Busquets, with Iniesta, Silva and Fabregas in front of him.

This would make Spain less tenacious in midfield, but Barcelona have always relied on having just one defensive midfielder in Busquets, and they've done very well. Why shouldn't Spain do the same?

After all, offense can be the best defense, and opposing teams won't be able to threaten Spain very much if they're too busy being smothered by Spain's attack.

Italy Need Better Options on the Flanks

Though not many may have realized it, this was a very narrow game. Arbeloa, Alba, Giaccherini and Maggio did little to impact proceedings, and left all the action to their respective teams' more central players.

We've already covered how Spain will need to shift to a system that utilizes a striker, and by extension, more wide options, like a 4-2-3-1 or even a modified version of the 4-3-3 utilized today.

But Italy will need to make similar adjustments to. They had the opportunity today to exploit Spain's lack of width, but failed to do with the wingers they elected to start.

Italy aren't exactly loaded with options out wide; of the 13 midfielders and forwards selected for Euro 2012 for Italy, only one (Giaccherini) is a natural winger.

But there are many defenders selected who can play as wing-backs, which is roughly the position players are asked to fill when they play out wide in a 3-5-2.

On the right flank, Ignazio Abate is one of the world's best right-backs. He's quite underrated, and is behind Prandelli's preference Maggio in the pecking order, but he could really add a great deal of pace and ability to Italian's starting lineup if given the opportunity.

On the left flank, Italy's options are much more limited, but Giovinco could excel in this position if given the opportunity. He's flourished as a second striker for Parma, but for much of his early career he functioned as a winger. He'd certainly provide much more flair and pace than Giaccherini, who's never really been truly convincing. 

Even Balzaretti would be a welcome improvement on a near-absent display by Giaccherini.

Both Teams Should Qualify for the Knockout Stages

Given the amount of experimenting done in this game by both Prandelli and Del Bosque, neither manager can be truly disappointed to have gotten only a point from this game.

With only Ireland and Croatia to go, neither team will have anyone to blame other than themselves if they fail to make it to the knockout rounds from here.

Yes, Croatia does pose a serious threat to both teams' hopes; they managed to convincingly beat Ireland 3-1, and will only need 2-3 more points to make it to the knockout stages.

But the talent pool available to Italy and Spain is far greater than the pool available to Croatia; Croatia will have to really produce a massive performance to get the points needed to make it out of Group C.

Group C's winner will face Group D's runner-up, and the opposite is true for Group C's runner-up. While that doesn't provide the best scenario for those who emerge from Group C—those who emerge from Group B, the Group of Death, have an easier matchup in the knockout stages—it does mean that those who qualify from Group C will not have to face Group of Death opposition until the semifinals.

From there, anything can happen. There's still far too much football left to be played for us to start predicting what will happen in the semis.

Italy and Spain have taken good first steps. But there's still 180 minutes of football to be played before they qualify for the knockout rounds, and much more after that to make it the final of Euro 2012. The path to the trophy will have many more twists and turns.