Spain ran out 1-0 winners against Italy in a hard-fought International friendly at the Estadio Vicente Calderon on Wednesday night.
A solitary second-half goal from Pedro was enough to give La Roja a win in a tight and tactical battle.
Cesare Prandelli exercised the depth of his squad with an experimental line-up however the Azzurri got off to a bright start. Alessio Cerci set off on an enterprising run down the right and after beating a Spanish defender his miscued cross from the by-line almost found the back of the net after coming off the inside of the post.
Spain were quick to respond and after some crisp interchange Pedro’s snapshot from the edge of the area forced Gianluigi Buffon into a smart save down to his right.
Both teams played at an impressively high tempo in the first ten minutes with the hosts settling into their usual possession based game and the Azzurri looking to pinch the ball and launch a counter-attack.
On the 20-minute mark one debutante was involved in denying another as Gabriel Paletta did well to track Diego Costa’s run in the area and block his right footed effort, moments later Andres Iniesta’s measured attempt from the left was beaten away by the Italian shot stopper.
The Azzurri always looked capable of causing La Roja problems and following some slick build up, Pablo Osvaldo’s finish from a central position 18-yards out did not match his exquisite nutmeg which preceded it, his effort curling narrowly wide of the top left corner.
But for a mesmerising Pedro run, the last 15-minutes of the first-half was contested at a slower tempo, the two sides going in at the break with the score goalless.
At the start of the second-half both coaches rang the changes, Andrea Pirlo, Mattia De Sciglio and Ignazio Abate entering the fray for the away side while Vicente Del Bosque introduced Xabi Alonso, David Silva and Victor Valdes for La Furia.
It was one of the Spanish substitutes who fashioned the first opening of the half, Silva sliding a defence splitting pass to Thiago whose side-foot finish from close range was smothered by the Juventus keeper. The Manchester City midfielder then had an attempt of his own as a clearance fell to him however he dragged his effort wide.
The substitutions appeared to disrupt the shape of both sides which made for an end to end start to the second-half.
The reigning World Champions began to look increasingly threatening with Silva at the heart of everything however the play-maker failed to make a decent connection with his attempt on goal once again.
On the hour-mark the deadlock was finally broken. Silva and Iniesta exchanging passes in the area which forced the Azzurri into some last ditch defending and as the ball broke to Pedro his low drive squirmed past Buffon. The experienced Italian would perhaps feel he could have done better.
The Italian tactician responded to his side falling behind by making a double substitution, Mattia Destro and Ciro Immobile replacing Cerci and Osvaldo as Italy switched to a 4-4-2 formation.
Spain finished the stronger side as Costa had a presentable opening after Azpilicueta threaded him through, however the Atletico Madrid hit-man could only drag his effort wide.
In the dying embers the Italians threatened from a corner as the ball dangerously flashed across the Spanish six yard box however La Roja held on for a 1-0 victory.
Prandelli will certainly draw positives from his sides performance against an extremely talented Spanish outfit, in particular Paletta’s accomplished debut performance.
Follow Luca Hodges-Ramon on Twitter: @LH_Ramon25
