The statistics were on the Azzurri's side, as they were undefeated in competitive matches against Spain since the 1920 Olympics and their last official meeting was a 2-1 win in the 1994 World Cup quarter-final. The Iberians qualified from the group phase with a 100 per cent record, but in all the quarter-finals so far the group winners had gone out.

Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso sat out bans and were replaced by Alberto Aquilani - making his Euro 2008 debut - and Massimo Ambrosini, but the rest of the line-up that defeated France 2-0 remained unchanged. Luis Aragones rested his stars in the 2-1 win over Greece and returned to the same XI that won its opening two games. In a bi... Read more »