The Italians were confident that their team would win against Ukraine. There were often predictions of a 2-0 or 3-1 result. The match in Leverkusen only confirmed the Italians' opinion about the higher level of the Italian national team, which created a lot of chances at Trubin's goal and could have solved the problem of reaching Euro 2024 in the first half.
Photo: gettyimages.comThe Italians are unhappy that Ukraine played closed football, attacked little and did not try to win the match. Local fans believe that the Ukrainians had accepted in advance that they would have to play in the play-offs. The Italians also joke that Cefereen's words came true and that the Ukrainians would be unhappy with the refereeing. They also jokingly thank the team of referees for the ticket to the Euros. But we should pay tribute to the Italians, some of them really write that if it wasn't for the referees, Ukraine could have gone to the European Championships.
Aime: Today's match showed that Ukraine is simply not ready for this level of play. I don't know what their coach was offended by, but if you put a bus near your goal in a decisive match, it shows your coaching level. You should only be angry with yourself. If Ukraine has good players, it is in attack. And today we saw almost no attack from Ukraine.
Coltelli: It was a difficult game. Ukraine almost never attacked, they just parked a bus at their goal and waited. It didn't look like the Ukrainians were satisfied with just winning. Judging by the number of attacks, ball control and pace of the game, it was Italy, not Ukraine, who needed to win. It's surprising that the Ukrainian team played such a closed game.
Roi: Now I would like to mention once again the words of the UEFA president and the angry reaction of Rebrov, the coach of the Ukrainian national team. Look at who played how today. If such a powerful Italy doesn't play in the Euros, won't it be a disaster? I'm sorry, but even if Ukraine makes it to the tournament, it will be a random guest who no one expected, but he came.
Gianluca: What was Ukraine's game plan? Did they have one at all? Because I saw Italy controlling the situation on the pitch for almost the entire match, attacking and creating chances. Ukraine was sitting in defence, afraid to go on the attack with great force. I didn't see any desire to win from the Ukrainians.
ToRi: Ukraine played much better than expected. And quite cunningly. It seemed to me that the Ukrainians' plan was to irritate Italy, to force them to attack, and then Ukraine itself was supposed to play on the counterattack and score a goal. The game was kind of jerky, although it looked good overall. It was an interesting match, including in tactical terms.
Darian: Ukraine spoiled today's match. I hoped to see a bright and productive game, because the Ukrainians had to win. But for the first 70 minutes, they didn't really think about attacking. Perhaps they were waiting for Italy to get tired. Or maybe they accepted in advance that they would have to play in the Nations League play-offs and try to get to the Euros through this mini-tournament.
Gael: I liked the match. Italy played well, created a lot of chances, were not afraid to go on the attack all the time. I was expecting a more cautious game from Spalletti, but I'm pleased that Italy didn't sit back in defence. You need to understand that many teams will play this kind of football against Italy at the Euros. We need to be more responsible for our chances. We could have scored a lot of goals, but we were always missing something.
Andretto: Now the Ukrainians will have a reason to complain about the refereeing and remember Cheferin's words. I think the penalty was more likely in stoppage time, but it would be unfair if Italy lost to Ukraine in a game like this, having such a significant advantage for almost the entire game.
Edmond: It was exactly what I expected after the first half. We were too careless with our chances at the other team's goal, we didn't score goals, so the last 10 minutes were very nervous. The Ukrainians didn't seem to have any particularly dangerous chances, but it was still uneasy.
Dante: If Italy had just converted at least one or two chances in the first half, it would have been a verdict on Ukraine. Then there would have been no worries about the result. Italy could have scored 3-4 goals, but the execution was terrible. We create problems for ourselves in decisive matches. Professionals need to play football with a cool head, not on emotions.
Christian: I'm very glad we made it to the Euros, but it was a penalty.
Siciliano: It will be funny if Ukrainians blame UEFA and the referee for everything. In such a game, Ukraine should have lost with a crushing score, but I have no doubt that the Ukrainian coach will be outraged by the alleged penalty. Even though there was no foul, Mudryk tried to draw an 11-metre penalty.
Costanzo: We sat in defence for 90 minutes, miraculously didn't concede 5-6 goals, and then launched one attack and decided to provoke the referee by faking in someone else's penalty area. Is this adequate at all? And what would have happened if the referee had awarded such a penalty and Italy had missed the Euros?
Dilauro: The referee helped Italy to get to the Euros, thanks to the UEFA president, he got us to this tournament. But what happens next? Ukraine played badly, but they could still get to the Euros. Italy played well, but one mistake at the end of the match could have been fatal. I don't share everyone's joy because I understand that there was a penalty. And I am ashamed of this draw. I am ashamed that the referee helped Italy to draw! Think about it, he didn't help us win, he helped us not to lose!
Scarano: If the referee had awarded a penalty, it would have been a disgrace. The Ukrainians didn't deserve to play in the Euros, they fought back the whole match and dreamed of not conceding many goals. And at the end of the game they ran on the attack, but they couldn't create anything and started to fall down near our penalty area. Their plan was too obvious - to earn an occasional free kick or penalty, score one goal and sit on the defensive as a team.
Barberi: The Ukrainians wanted to get to the Euros with a penalty. Luckily, the referees were on our side and did not succumb to these provocations. I think it would have been a shame to get to the European Championship the way Ukraine wanted to do. I wouldn't want to see Italy get to the Euros with a dubious penalty.
Amato: The result should have been even more devastating than in the match against North Macedonia. In the first half alone, Italy created 5-6 chances, after which the ball should have been in Trubin's goal. Ukraine was just lucky not to lose by 0-5 or more.
Rustici: Ukraine sat in defence for 70 minutes, afraid to cross the centre of the pitch, and at the end of the match they had the nerve to ask for a penalty! There, Mudryk fell down as if he had been shot by a sniper. Even if there was contact, it was minimal. Referees never give such penalties in such important matches.
Barnus: My God, such suffering! And against whom, Ukraine? Do you seriously want to achieve good results at Euro 2024? You couldn't score against the Ukrainians, you couldn't make great chances. The team needs to be sent to a psychologist, something is wrong here.
Cornel: Ceferin is a friend of the Italian mafia. So the referee acted exactly as he was told. It's a joke, of course, but the referee did help us at the end of the match, and we have to admit it. And if you recall Cheferin's words before the game, you can imagine what conspiracy theories Ukrainians are coming up with now.
Franzolin: I'm ashamed of the Ukrainians now. Ceferin was right that Italy is needed at the Euros and it will be there. I hoped that we wouldn't give any reason to doubt the strength of the Italian team, but what to do now that we were so obviously helped? Why didn't the referee review the VAR? In any important match, in such situations, the referee watches the replay 100 times, but not here. I don't need a victory like that. And the most frustrating thing is that Italy played really well, but now everyone will talk about the penalty.
Rivolta: Mourinho would be proud of Rebrov. For Jose, this is the perfect football, when you close down and suffer in defence, hoping for one moment at the other goal, hoping for one mistake. We could have played in the same style, but then it would have been disgusting football. I thank Italy for trying to win this difficult match to the last.
Doallo: Ukraine lost before the match even started. It was a boring and cowardly game. The Ukrainians were afraid to lose, afraid to play attacking football, so they had no chance of winning. It's just psychology. Spalletti set the team up to win and we played really well. Rebrov, I think, set up the team "not to lose". In such cases, everything rarely ends well.
Anton Prokopov
