Bonucci: ‘Italy objective is to attack and create chances’ after 5-0 victory

Leonardo Bonucci explains the tactical tweaks against Israel do not change the overall Italy approach. ‘Our objective is to attack and create chances.’

It kicks off at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen, Hungary, at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The Azzurri made their debut under new coach Gennaro Gattuso on Friday in a 5-0 victory over Estonia.

He and his staff, including former Juventus and Milan defender Bonucci, have made some adjustments with Gianluca Mancini and Manuel Locatelli stepping in for Riccardo Calafiori and Mattia Zaccagni.

Bonucci outlines priority for Italy

“Enthusiasm, spirit of sacrifice, team spirit is what we all saw on Friday, we must continue that all the way to the World Cup,” Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia.

“Our objective is to attack and create chances. Obviously, against a team like Israel whose strength is the counter-attack, we needed more balance in defence. We had a great performance on Friday and want to build on that.”

That was the first match not only for Gattuso on the Italy bench, but also for Bonucci as a member of his coaching staff.

“It was emotional, especially seeing what the lads did during the match, it really moved me. We tried to give them the instruments to put in a great performance, the lads were perfect throughout the last eight days in training and the match, now we want to close this first phase with another important victory.”