Italy vs. Bulgaria Euro 2016 Qualifier: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
The Italian national team has finally gained the top spot in Group H of Euro 2016 qualifying. Now they face a crunch match against a tricky Bulgarian side to consolidate their new position.
Date: Sunday, September 6
Time: 8:30 p.m. CET/7:30 p.m. BST; 2:30 p.m. EDT
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Venue: Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Sicily
TV Info: ITV 4 (UK), ESPN Deportes (US)
Live Stream: Watch ESPN (US)
The Azzurri put a scare into the entire country when it took them 69 minutes to score against tiny Malta on Thursday—a team they have never failed to defeat.
When Graziano Pelle bundled the ball into Andrew Hogg's net, the entire peninsula breathed a sigh of relief. It was an important victory. Croatia had played out a flaccid scoreless draw with Azerbaijan earlier in the day, and coupled with the point they lost as a result of the unfortunate swastika incident over the summer, the win was enough to put Italy into the top spot in the group for the first time since qualifying began.
But despite going top, fans are going into Sunday's match against Bulgaria with major concerns. The Maltese are experts at making life difficult for teams that are far superior to them, but even in their current state of flux, it shouldn't have taken Italy almost 70 minutes to score against them. The performance of the forwards was a major concern.
Italy's play in front of goal has been a major problem since the end of the last decade. You can probably go back to the World Cup triumph of 2006 to find the last time that Italy boasted a strikeforce that boasted a clutch of truly world-class goalscorers.
In the early part of the century, Italy boasted the likes of Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero and Luca Toni in their prime. Now they're caught between generations, and the new players have yet to make an impact. Antonio Conte has little choice but to muddle through this lean period.
It will probably behoove him to make changes on the wings on Sunday. Neither Eder nor Manolo Gabbiadini played particularly well on Thursday, although both had brilliant individual moments where they came within inches of scoring. Replacing them with Antonio Candreva—who provided a brilliant spark when he came on in the second half—and Lorenzo Insigne might make the Azzurri a little more incisive.
Conte also deserves to be questioned for starting midfielder Andrea Bertolacci, who has been horrendous so far this season for AC Milan. The manager will be forced to replace him on Sunday after he left Coverciano with an injury, which may be a classic case of addition by subtraction. A month from now, this will be a moot point—a healthy Claudio Marchisio is a lock to start here.
But overall the confirmation of Conte's change from the 3-5-2 he used to such great effect at Juventus and a new 4-3-3 formation is a positive sign. The attack looks much better than it did with a three-man back line, and more experience in the formation will only make things better.
For Bulgaria, a win is vital. The Lions are fourth in the group, five points behind third-placed Norway. The Norwegians play Croatia on Sunday, and if they can win while their adversaries drop points, they will regain some of the ground lost in Thursday's 1-0 loss and put themselves back into position to get into a playoff position.
Form Lines
| Italy | Bulgaria |
| W 1-0 vs. Malta | L 1-0 vs. Norway |
| L 1-0 vs. Portugal* | L 4-0 @ Turkey* |
| D 1-1 @ Croatia | D 2-2 vs. Italy |
| D 1-1 vs. England* | D 0-0 vs. Romania* |
| D 2-2 @ Bulgaria | D 1-1 vs. Malta |
*Friendly
Projected Lineups
| Italy (4-3-3) | Bulgaria (4-2-3-1) |
| Buffon | Mitrev |
| Darmian Bonucci Chiellini Pasqual | Bandalovski Aleksandrov Bodurov Minev |
| Verratti De Rossi Pirlo | Dyakov Chochev |
| Candreva Pelle Insigne | Manolev Popov Milanov |
| Mitsanski |
Players to Watch
Southampton striker Graziano Pelle played his way into Conte's team last year by coming out of the blocks fast and this year has begun the same way. He scored twice during his club's attempt to run through the Europa League playoffs, and he's scored a pair of goals in the first four rounds of the English Premier League.
Pelle isn't a ball-playing forward but at short distances is a good passer. On Thursday he made particularly good use of chest passes, making several excellent ones to onrushing teammates. He's as good in the air as his stature suggests and can win any aerial duel against a defender.
Pelle's performance on Thursday earned him a start against Bulgaria. The hope is he plays at the same level and keeps the striker position solid enough to allow Conte to place his focus elsewhere.
The most-capped player in this Bulgarian team, Ivelin Popov is almost certain to start in the hole behind the striker. He's spent the last three seasons at Kuban Krasnodar and Spartak Moscow in Russia, but he's talented enough to play the trequartista role in any league. He's scored in two of the team's last three qualifiers and is easily Bulgaria's best attacking threat.
Italy's defense is built around the rock-solid Juventus core of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, but they've shown some weakness towards Popov's type of player in the past. Armenia's Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a prime example of this, giving the Azzurri fits two years ago during World Cup qualifying. Bonucci and Chiellini, the likely starters, will need to keep their eyes on him constantly.
Key Matchup
Bulgarian left-back Yordan Minev has big-match experience after playing in last year's Champions League with Ludogorets Razgrad. With Bulgaria's qualification potentially in the balance, he's going to have a big responsibility on Sunday.
If, as expected, Antonio Candreva starts on the right wing for Italy, Minev is going to be facing down one of Italy's top men. Candreva is shifty and can break a defender down, getting himself into great positions on the wing and in front of goal.
It's not just the Lazio man that Minev needs to worry about. Right-back Matteo Darmian forged an instant and impressive link with Candreva during last year's World Cup. If they're reunited, they can cause huge problems down the right side.
It will be up to Minev to keep this dynamic duo at bay. If he can disrupt them, it will seriously hurt Italy's ability to score. If Candreva and Darmian gain the upper hand, Bulgaria could have a very long day in Palermo.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
