Slovakia vs. Italy U21 European Championship: Official line-ups

epa10680563 Cesare Casadei of Italy celebrates after scoring the 1-0 goal during the FIFA U-20 World Cup semifinal soccer match between Italy and South Korea, in La Plata, Argentina, 8 June 2023. EPA-EFE/DEMIAN ALDAY ESTEVEZ

Italy bring in Cesare Casadei and Diego Coppola for their second European Under-21 Championship tie against hosts Slovakia.

It kicks off at the Anton Malatinsky Stadium in Trnava at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT, 21.00 CET).

The Azzurrini opened their account with a 1-0 victory over Romania, which was sealed by a Tommaso Baldanzi goal and ‘keeper Sebastiano Desplanches saving a penalty.

They are in Group A along with Spain and Romania, with the top two going through to the quarter-finals.

Spain scraped another late victory, as they had been trailing 1-0 until Romania went down to 10 men, then turned it around for a 2-1 win to secure qualification.

Coach Carmine Nunziata sticks with much of the same XI that opened the tournament, but makes two big changes.

Coppola and Casadei were initially rested, as they joined up late with the squad after participating in the World Cup qualifiers with the senior Italy team.

The Verona defender and Torino midfielder step into the starting XI now, sending Daniele Ghilardi and Luca Koleosho to the bench.

This means Giovanni Fabbian is pushed into a more advanced role with Baldanzi in support of False 9 Willy Gnonto.

Nunziata had to improvise for the attack after losing top scorer Francesco Pio Esposito to injury for the competition.

The most familiar face in the Slovakia Under-21 squad is Verona attacking midfielder Tomas Suslov, while Cagliari central defender Adam Obert also plays.

They opened their tournament with a hard-fought 3-2 defeat to Spain, capitulating only in stoppages.

Slovakia vs Italy official line-ups

Slovakia U21: Belko; Kopasek, Jakubko, Obert, Javorcek; Nebyla, Rigo, M Sauer; Marcelli, Suslov, L Sauer

Italy U21: Desplanches; Zanotti, Pirola, Coppola, Ruggeri; Casadei, Prati, Ndour; Fabbian, Baldanzi, Gnonto

Ref: Minakovic (SRB)