Defending champions Spain begin the defense of their European crown when they take on an out-of-sorts Italian side in Gdansk on Sunday (Spain 4/5, draw 5/2, Italy 4/1 – Match Betting).
The Spanish head into the competition as one of the heavy favourites – a position they would not have been at all familiar with up until 2008 when they ended their reputation as underachievers by winning the Euros.
Spain’s success has come from the dominance of Barcelona in the club game and the national side is unsurprisingly dotted with a number of stars from the Nou Camp.
Playmakers Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Cesc Fabregas are all likely to feature heavily against the Azzurri at the PGE Arena but Spain will still be missing one crucial Barca star.
Striker David Villa has been ruled out of the tournament through injury and head coach Vicente del Bosque will have to look for goals elsewhere, with Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente (9/2 – First Goalscorer) and Pedro Rodriguez all vying for a starting role.
As for Italy they come into this tournament on the back of a torrid run of form, with the former European powerhouse suffering a 3-0 defeat in their final friendly against Russia before the competition in Poland and Ukraine.
Before that the Azzurri were on the wrong end of 1-0 defeats to both the United States and Uruguay and confidence will not be that high in the Italian camp ahead of their opener with Spain (3/1 – Euro 2012 Outright).
However, write Italy off at your peril, as they still have plenty of experience in their ranks, especially in defence and midfield, with the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi in the middle of the park and Giorgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at the back.
The worry for the for the 2006 World Cup winners will be a lack of goals in attack, with Mario Balotelli (8/1 – First Goalscorer), Antonio Cassano and Antonio Di Natale, in 74 appearances between them, only scoring 20 goals.
Italy always have the ability to keep clean sheets but if they fail to threaten the Spanish defence, which is questionable at times, they will struggle to get their campaign in Group C off to a winning start.
With the Republic of Ireland and Croatia battling in this group as well, the winner of Sunday’s encounter in Gdansk will certainly go a long way in deciding who will go through to the knockout stages of the competition as group winners.
Italy (14/1 – Euro 2012 Outright) have lost only eight of their 29 encounters with Spain, as they have proved difficult to beat against the defending champions, but with the Barca stars in their ranks, del Bosque should be celebrating an opening win in Group C.
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The surprise inclusion of Champions League flops Manchester United and Manchester City may dominate the Europea League headlines but there are plenty of other contenders for the top prize and Serie A is well represented in the last-32 stage.