Football Italia
·23 marzo 2025
Nations League official line-ups: Germany vs. Italy

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·23 marzo 2025
Luciano Spalletti transforms the Italy defence with Daniel Maldini and Samuele Ricci supporting Moise Kean in the Nations League clash with Germany.
It kicks off at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund at 19.45 GMT.
The Azzurri have a mountain to climb in order to qualify for the Nations League Final Four, as they fumbled a Sandro Tonali opener to lose 2-1 at San Siro in the first leg.
Riccardo Calafiori slipped in the final minutes and is out injured, along with Andrea Cambiaso, while Matteo Politano is not at 100 per cent either.
Federico Gatti and Alessandro Buongiorno step into defence, moving Giovanni Di Lorenzo to the right wing-back role.
Ricci replaces Nicolò Rovella in midfield, while Maldini gets his first senior start in support of striker Kean, leaving Giacomo Raspadori on the bench.
MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 20: Tim Kleindienst of Germany celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala and Leon Goretzka during the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal leg one match between Italy and Germany at Stadio San Siro on March 20, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Nico Schlotterbeck made a good impression off the Germany bench and therefore is chosen to start this time around, but rather than at left-back, it would seem to be a change of system to mirror Italy with 3-4-2-1.
The same goes for centre-forward Tim Kleindienst, who scored with practically his first touch after replacing Jonathan Burkardt.
Maximilian Mittelstadt and Angelo Stiller also step into the starting XI.
It was in this stadium that Italy beat Germany 2-0 in extra time for the 2006 World Cup semi-finals.
Germany: Baumann; Tah, Rudiger, Schlotterbeck; Kimmich, Stiller, Goretzka, Mittelstadt; Sané, Musiala; Kleindienst
Germany bench: Nubel, Ortega, Koch, Gross, Burkardt, Amiri, Undav, Leweling, Bisseck, Adeyemi, Raum, Andrich
Italy: Donnarumma; Gatti, Bastoni, Buongiorno; Di Lorenzo, Barella, Ricci, Tonali, Udogie; Maldini; Kean
Italy bench: Meret, Vicario, Bellanova, Comuzzo, Politano, Raspadori, Rovella, Ruggeri, Frattesi, Lucca, Zaccagni, Casadei
Ref: Marciniak (POL)
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