a pale Italy begins the defense of its title with a narrow success against Albania

By conceding a goal in the first seconds of the match, Italy scared itself but was able to react to win against Albania (2-1) on Saturday in Dortmund.

Italy did not shine but provided the essentials. Faced with an Albania which never stopped running behind the ball, the defending team won 2-1, Saturday June 15, in Dortmund, for its first match of Euro 2024. Arrived in Germany with few certainties after winning their qualification for the Euro on the last day of the qualifiers thanks to a draw against Ukraine (0-0), the teammates of Gianluigi Donnarumma are launching their tournament well from an accounting point of view.

In a stadium committed to the Albanian cause, with 50,000 Eagles supporters, the Squadra Azzura nevertheless played to scare himself. It took just 23 seconds for Nedim Bajrami to score the fastest goal in Euro history after a mistake by Federico Dimarco on a touchline. Enough to react to the Nazionale who quickly equalized on a cross header from Alessandro Bastoni (11th), before taking the advantage thanks to a superb strike at the entrance to the area from Nicolo Barella (16th).

23 – After 23 seconds of play, Albanian Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest goal in EURO history against Italy. Lightning. #ITAALB pic.twitter.com/SDx4a3hjOC

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 15, 2024

Dominators in the game, the Italians lacked precision to kill the match, like David Fratesi’s post (33rd) or Federico Chiesa’s attempt from the left, which narrowly escaped the target (59th). Opposite, the Albanians regularly exposed themselves due to multiple ball losses and can thank their goalkeeper, Thomas Strakosha, who made numerous saves, notably against Gianluca Scamacca (40th).

Thanks to this victory, Italy temporarily takes second place in Group B with the same number of points as Spain, largely victorious over Croatia (3-0) and in the lead thanks to a better goal difference. A leader that the Italians will meet on Thursday June 20, and where first place in the “group of death” will most certainly be decided. The Italians will have to show much better to hope to embarrass the Spaniards. Albania, for its part, will face Croatia on Wednesday June 19, in the hope of gleaning its first points.