Montolivo, Italy's young master

Italian footballers are often compared to great painters. Roberto Baggio was nicknamed Raffaello and Alessandro Del Piero is known as Pinturicchio; now Italy Under-21 midfielder Riccardo Montolivo is on his way to becoming Caravaggio.

Passion for art
After scoring the winning goals in the qualifying Group 5 victories against Iceland and Austria, Italy hope for more touches of artistry from the ACF Fiorentina man in their UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off against Spain on Friday and Tuesday. Montolivo, born in Caravaggio, the village close to Bergamo after which Renaissance painter Michelangelo Merisi took his famous moniker, could not have found a better club to join to satisfy his passion for art.

'Improving day by day'
The 21-year-old is often seen in Florence's Uffizi Gallery to examine the works of his favourite artist, a welcome distraction from the Serie A spotlight. Montolivo has broken into the Viola first team this season, starting all five league games having been used mostly as a substitute since arriving from Atalanta BC in 2005. "I feel I'm improving day by day and I owe it to Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli," he said.

Highlights
Despite that progress, his recent highlights are the two strikes that gave the Azzurrini wins against Iceland and Austria last month. "It was fantastic - all my team-mates congratulated me," said Montolivo, a survivor of the Italy squad that failed to negotiate the group stage as holders in Portugal this summer. "Now we have two very difficult games against Spain but I'm confident because although we sometimes struggle against weaker sides, we always play our best football against the strongest opponents."

Giants face off
Italy coach Pierluigi Casiraghi knows he faces a stern test of his credentials so soon after replacing Claudio Gentile at the helm. "It is a pity we're playing Spain in the play-offs and not the finals," said the 37-year-old. "If we look at the history of these two sides, we can say that Spain and Italy are among the best teams in Europe at this level. It's a kind of derby and I think we have exactly the same chances of qualifying."

'Right balance'
Casiraghi is expected to continue with a 4-1-4-1 system featuring an anchorman just ahead of the defence and four attack-minded midfielders in support of a lone striker. "We have worked to find the right balance for this team and put single players in their most comfortable positions," he said. "Spain are extremely strong but we also have great players who can change the match at any moment." One of them is Montolivo.