Luciano Spalletti finds reason to smile ahead of Italy's showdown with France in Nations League

PARIS – Disappointment loomed large for fans, players, and Italy coach Luciano Spalletti following their Euro 2024 campaign. With only one win in four games and an early exit at the hands of Switzerland in the round of 16, there was little to celebrate for the Italian team.

However, ahead of Italy’s first excursion since the Euro, the Azzurri boss is able to smile again. Not even the prospect of facing France in their Uefa Nations League opener at Parc des Princes on Sept 6 is able to dampen his mood.

It seems the attitude of his charges, champing at the bit as they look to right the wrongs from the summer, has impressed Spalletti.

“After three days of training, these lads allowed me to smile again – in football terms – for the first time since the Euro,” the coach told RAI Sport and Sky Sport Italia.

“I saw good things, like tempo, passion, availability, feeling at one with the football. This is the key to getting things back on track.”

“We cannot afford to underestimate anything, especially after the bad impression we made in the Euro. There are some things we need to change, including restoring the confidence we lost in ourselves.”

To regain their status among the top nations again, Italy will have to deliver strong performances consistently and they could not have had a tougher start to their new dawn as world No. 2 France are next.

To compound matters, Les Bleus would also be looking to get back to winning ways as Euro 2024 marks their failure to reach the final for the first time in the last three major tournaments.

The pair are in Nations League A, and they are joined in Group 2 by Belgium and Israel with the top two qualifying for the two-legged quarter-final stage in March.

“We have to face them as a team, tactically, because their counter-attacks can be very dangerous for us,” said Spalletti of the threat posed by Didier Deschamps’ side.

“How do you mark (star forward) Kylian Mbappe? As a team. It is one of their characteristics, they make you think that you are in control of the match, then these long runs behind the line of the defence are difficult to mark.

“It is a match against an opponent of the highest level but, in football, you can level out the playing field with passion and hard work.

“I want to see those characteristics that we need to make up for the difference in individual quality that our opponents might have more than us.”

The 65-year-old added that he wanted to give his side more freedom on the pitch, mirroring the successful approach that led his former side Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years.

“We have players who have made history in past call-ups. We are dealing with a team that has a lot of quality, and a massive possibility of reaching higher levels,” he said.

“What you do in the game makes all the difference, and we will try to give them more freedom to put their quality into practice, because the players have quality.”

France exited Euro 2024 after a 2-1 loss to Spain in the semi-finals, with captain Mbappe scoring just once in the tournament, that too from the penalty spot.

He has since moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid with whom he opened his La Liga account last weekend, when he scored a brace in his fourth league game after barely threatening in his first three.

However, Deschamps is not at all concerned, saying: “His coach Carlo Ancelotti was not worried and neither was I. Kylian has always scored goals and he will score them.

“The French national team is better when Kylian is there. From experience, being in the French national team is a break that is good for many of them.

“He was not effective – at first – but I spoke to him and he feels good. Obviously he is not at his best yet, but he is not a robot or a superman. Expectations are high.”

Deschamps will not have Real duo Ferland Mendy and Aurelien Tchouameni after they withdrew through injury, while Spalletti has called up Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali, who recently returned to competitive football following his 10-month ban for illegal betting.