EURO friendly report card: Italy

Results
Thursday: Italy 1-1 Spain (Insigne 68, Aduriz 70)
Buffon; Darmian, Bonucci, Astori; Florenzi (De Silvestri 89), Parolo (Jorginho 89), Motta, Giaccherini (Antonelli 79); Candreva (Bernardeschi 60), Pellè (Zaza 60), Eder (Insigne 51)

David de Gea boosted his chances of displacing Iker Casillas as Spain's No1 with a series of fine saves as the European champions held Italy for 68 minutes until home substitute Lorenzo Insigne broke through. Aritz Aduriz swiftly equalised from close range after Gianluigi Buffon had parried a header from the goalkeeper's Juventus team-mate Álvaro Morata. It was the in-form 35-year-old's first international goal in only his second game for Spain.

Tuesday: Germany 4-1 Italy (Kroos 24, Götze 45, Hector 59, Özil 75; El Shaarawy 83)
Buffon; Darmian, Bonucci (Ranocchia 63), Acerbi; Florenzi (De Silvestri 61), Montolivo, Motta (Parolo 68), Giaccherini (El Shaarawy 69); Bernardeschi, Zaza (Antonelli 78), Insigne (Okaka 68)

A fine defensive display and clinical efficiency up front helped Germany inflict a heavy defeat on Italy in Munich. Thomas Müller set up both Toni Kroos and Mario Götze in the first half, before Jonas Hector opened his Germany account and Mesut Özil converted a penalty. Italy rarely threatened but managed a consolation when Stephan El Shaarawy's shot from distance was deflected in by his Roma colleague Antonio Rüdiger.

Lorenzo Insigne after scoring against Spain©Getty Images

What we learned
1) Lorenzo Insigne could be the player to give Italy much-needed creativity, not to mention goals.

2) With several attacking wingers in the squad – Antonio Candreva played well against Spain, El Shaarawy scored against Germany – the 3-4-3 system could be the ideal one for the Azzurri in France.

3) Alessandro Florenzi confirmed that he can shine as a right-sided midfielder in this 3-4-3 with his ability to help in defence and attack.

Questions remain
▪ Where is Italy's goalscoring centre-forward? Graziano Pellè works hard and creates space for team-mates but is not finding the net regularly; Simone Zaza has only one international goal to his name.

▪ Has Éder lost his edge? After notching 12 in 19 Serie A games for Sampdoria, he is yet to score in eight matches since moving to Inter in January, and Tuesday's performance against Spain confirmed that he has work to do.

▪ Will Italy look a better side with Marco Verratti? The injured Paris man's passing and personality were a big miss against Spain and Germany.

Room for improvement
With the return of Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini in defence, Italy will certainly be more solid. Crucial midfielders Verratti and Claudio Marchisio were also missing against Spain and Germany but scoring goals without a real specialist will always be a difficult task for this team.

EURO certainties (if fit)
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United)

Midfielders: Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna)

Forwards: Graziano Pellè (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), El Shaarawy (Roma), Antonio Candreva (Lazio)

Media view
Mario Sconcerti, Corriere della Sera
"Conte has done a good job but can only count on ordinary players. Italy have always had great players but have not managed to produce a special talent in the last ten years. Our striker against Germany, Simone Zaza, is only fourth-choice in Juventus's attack. Conte does not have a plan B: he always wants to play as if we were as good as the best teams in Europe, but we are not. When you don't have players who can win games with a piece of skill, you have to find other ways to win as a team, even if it means a more cautious approach."