Italy v Albania: Spalletti urges Azzurri to act like defending champions in Euro 2024 opener

Luciano Spalletti hopes Italy can use their title of reigning champions to their advantage when they open their Euro 2024 campaign against Albania on Saturday.

The Azzurri secured Euro 2020 glory by upsetting England on home soil with a 3-2 win on penalties following a 1-1 draw to win their second European title.

After Roberto Mancini’s shock departure last year, Spalletti stepped into his shoes, qualifying for Euro 2024, and he is confident they have what it takes to win the tournament for the second time in a row.

“It feels like heaven to be in situations like these,” Spalletti told UEFA.com. “Matches come and go. These tournaments are really important, and this is why we need to be prepared for everything; as we say in our anthem, ‘We are ready to die’ for these matches.

“In my opinion, coming into the tournament as defending champions is an advantage. But we need to understand straight away that we need to behave like defending champions. We will only see whether or not we are up to the task during the matches.

“In a way, we are facing ourselves, not the outside world. We need to show what we are made of, to show what we have inside.”

Albania, meanwhile, are making just their second appearance at the Euros, and their first since 2016 when they were knocked out in the group stage.

After topping a qualifying group including the Czech Republic and Poland, the Eagles have now been drawn into the ‘group of death’, also containing Spain and Croatia, but Sylvinho remains optimistic about their chances.

“We do all of this together and understand what we’re all after,” Sylvinho told UEFA.com. “We’ve achieved things, we’ve made it to the Euros: that’s some feat.

“We’ve got this far, we know our size, we’re improving. It’s set to be a real challenge. However, we’ll knuckle down to work.

“The games will be fantastic but hard, and if we’re able to overcome our opponents, we want to keep going. We’re doing well, but if we can take another step forward, then even better.”