Euro 2020: Italy’s Mancini, Insigne wary of ‘aggressive’ Austria as Alaba eyes upset

ITALY manager Roberto Mancini will not underestimate Austria in Saturday night’s Euro 2020 round of 16 clash at Wembley, the Azzurri boss has assured.

Mancini’s side are on the verge of history, needing one more win to set an all-time unbeaten Italy record.

Their current run of 30 games without a defeat matches a record set under Vittorio Pozzo between 1935 and 1939.

The Azzurri have also won 11 games in a row without conceding a goal, and one more clean sheet will see them equal their record for consecutive games without conceding (12), set between 1972 and 1974.

However, with all the records as well as Italy’s 100 percent win rate in the group phase, Mancini is expecting a tough game against Austria, who have never beaten his country in 13 meetings.

“Austria have quality, they are aggressive,” the former Manchester City manager said during his pre-match press conference.

“We will need to play a great match. It is the part of the competition where you can’t afford to make a mistake, that’s the beauty of these tournaments. You have to win by force; you can’t do anything else.”

Italy forward Lorenzo Insigne echoes his manager’s feelings, expressing respect for the Austrians.

“We have watched some of Austria’s matches,” the Napoli star said.

“We haven’t discussed any details yet but, from what we’ve seen, they are a very physical team who can run and press the entire match.

“But we won’t let ourselves be influenced by them; we’ll play our football. All we need to do is stay calm and prepare for this match like all the others in order to go out and play a great game.”

Austria are clear underdogs against the high-flying Italians, but David Alaba is not giving up hope of his side reaching their first-ever quarter-final after advancing past the group phase for the the first time in their history.

“It’s a dream come true for each and every one of us, playing at Wembley against Italy in the round of 16 at a EURO,” said Austria captain Alaba, who was born to a Nigerian father.

“It would be incredible to reach the quarter-final in Munich. That would be unbelievable for all of us – another dream come true. But we’re not thinking about that yet. Our focus is on the game.”

Austria coach Franco Foda added: “The team has achieved something spectacular. We are in the round of 16 and now we want to do everything we can to take the next step and reach the quarter-finals in Munich. We are full of confidence and focus on Italy. Italy have been the team that have impressed me the most. They attack well, their positioning is good and they are also strong in transition. Even in the third match they looked strong despite making a lot of changes. They are a dangerous squad.”

The match at Wembley Stadium, which is the Euro 2020 second semi-final, will kick off at 8pm.