On Sunday night Italy entertain Croatia at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan with the aim of taking cementing to spot of European Championship qualifying Group H, with both having 100 percent starts to the campaign.
However, with the Azzurri squeezing past Azerbaijan and Malta during the last round of fixtures, the Vatreni will be confident they can secure a positive result in Milan against a side still finding their feet under coach Antonio Conte.
In their short history the Croatians have excelled against the Italians having never lost a competitive fixture, the last at the 2012 European Championships ending all square after Mario Mandzukic cancelled out Andrea Pirlo’s opener.
The first meeting after their new-found independence was also en route to qualification for Euro ’96 with a Davor Suker inspired Croatia securing a memorable 2-1 win in Palermo, before holding the Azzurri 1-1 at home.
During the only other competitive fixture goals from Ivica Olic and Milan Rapaic clinched victory at the group stage of the 2002 World Cup despite Christian Vieri firing Italy ahead, however, with the Vatreni failing to progress Italy did have something victory of sorts.
Despite both sides’ early exit from this summer’s World Cup, the Croatians left Brazil in slightly more positively than their Italian counterparts after an unwarranted defeat to the hosts in the opening game ultimately led to their downfall.
In contrast, Italy have struggled to convince despite some positive friendly victories after the disappointment of failing to reach the knock-out stages ahead of a mediocre England and lowly Costa Rica.
Continue their progress under Niko Kovac Croatia have made light work of the qualifying campaign so far, starting with a 2-0 win over Malta and defeating Bulgaria, again without conceding, before brushing aside Azerbaijan 6-0.
That victory came just 72 hours after the Azzurri themselves laboured to a last-gasp 2-1 win over the same opponents in Sicily and with a similarly uninspiring display in Malta is cause for concern for fans heading to the San Siro.
A recall for Mario Balotelli has stolen the headlines this week only for the Liverpool man to be sent home with a muscle injury, therefore, Sassuolo’s Simone Zaza is likely to partner Ciro Immobile ahead of Graziano Pelle.
Also missing out is Leonardo Bonucci after his red card in Malta and it should have been a seamless transition with Juventus teammate Angelo Ogbonna stepping in, however, he withdrew from the squad with Balotelli after Marco Verratti had earlier departed with a groin injury. Matteo Darmian is now expected to line-up in an unfamiliar position as part of a three-man backline.
Croatia will largely resemble the side seen at the World Cup with Ivica Olic returning to provide extra experience after starting on the bench against Azerbaijan, while Inter midfielder Mateo Kovacic is likely to be preferred to Marcelo Brozovic.
Expected Starting XIs
Italy: Buffon; Darmian, Ranocchia, Chiellini, Ogbonna; De Sciglio, De Rossi, Marchisio, Candreva, Pasqual; Immobile, Zaza
Croatia: Subasic; Srna, Corluka, Vida, Perisic; Olic, Rakitic, Pranjic; Modric, Kovacic; Mandzukic
