The Dragons have, so far, emerged victorious from their clash with the Turkish team, despite most of the fans on the grandstands rooting for the opponents, and reached a 1-1 draw with the Swiss squad in their first match. Now, in turn, they are in for a pretty tough game: they’ll be facing Gli Azzurri, the Italian national team filled with high-profile players like Barella, Bastoni and Jorginho. Will the Dragons emerge victorious again, surprising everyone? Or is the azure wall too tough for Bale’s side to break?
What to expect Fans, of course, always hope for the best when their favourite team steps onto the turf. Bookmakers are, in turn, much more realistic - and their data is also a bit more reliable. Vwin99 expects the Italian team to defeat the mighty Dragons in Sunday’s match by at least one goal. Considering that the Italian side has so far ploughed through its opponents with little resistance, keeping the Turkish team on their own half of the field for almost the entire game, this seems like a pretty accurate prediction.
A bit of history Italy and Wales have met 10 times on the turf so far, and only two of the matches were won by the Dragons. The last time the two teams met, the Italian side was not only victorious but prevented the Dragons from scoring any goals - while on their side, Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick. Of course, the squads have changed a lot since then - after all, it was the EURO 2004 qualifiers.
Italy has a lot of EURO experience - they qualified seven times in a row, and only failed to advance through the group stage twice. Wales, in turn, is only at its second European Championship in recent history, having made its debut in 2016 - that was under the helm of manager Chris Coleman. Moreover, the team made it to the semi-finals, beating the likes of England, Northern Ireland, Russia, and Belgium, only to be stopped by Portugal - the team that ultimately won the tournament in 2016. Italy has a history of winning their matches at home. Their record is 35 wins, 18 draws, and just 6 losses at the Stadio Olimpico - aside from the advantage of their home turf, they’ll also have most of the fans on their side. The only game Wales has played in Rome was a 4-1 defeat to Italy in the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Fun facts Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Italian players Bonucci, Bernardeschi, and Chiesa are teammates at Juventus Turin. Now, they’ll have the chance to play on opposing sides at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
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