Which nine Italy players were involved in Spalletti’s first March training session – Football Italia – March 17 latest

Starting eleven of Italy poses during the UEFA Nations League A soccer match Italy vs Israel in Udine, Italy, 14 October 2024. EPA-EFE/DAVIDE CASENTINI

After a busy weekend of action across Serie A, Ligue 1, the Premier League and the EFL Cup final, Luciano Spalletti only had nine players available for his first Italy national team training session of the March international break.

Italy will take on Germany over two legs of the Nations League quarter-finals, beginning with the first leg in San Siro on Thursday, before the reverse fixture at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund on Sunday. 

Spalletti has confirmed a squad of 25 players for the Nations League quarter-finals, but had a reduced squad of just nine players available for his first training session of the break on Monday. 

The nine players involved in Monday’s session were made up of players who did not start for their respective club sides over the weekend, which is why, for example, Pietro Comuzzo trained with the national team after being left out of the starting XI for Fiorentina 3-0 Juventus, but Moise Kean was afforded an additional recovery day. 

The same is true for Daniel Maldini and Matteo Ruggeri, who did not start in Atalanta’s 2-0 loss to Inter on Sunday, but Mateo Retegui did, which is why he did not train on Monday. 

Below is the full list of players who did and did not train with Italy during the first session of the March international break. 

Nine players involved in first Italy session in March 

Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Gatti (Juventus), Calafiori (Arsenal), Casadei (Torino), Ricci (Torino), Frattesi (Inter), Ruggeri (Atalanta), Maldini (Atalanta), Lucca (Udinese). 

Italy players not involved on Monday 

Donnarumma (PSG), Vicario (Tottenham), Meret (Napoli), Bastoni (Inter), Buongiorno (Napoli), Cambiaso (Juventus), Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Udogie (Tottenham), Barella (Inter), Rovella (Lazio), Tonali (Newcastle), Kean (Fiorentina), Politano (Napoli), Raspadori (Napoli), Retegui (Atalanta), Zaccagni (Lazio).