Slovakia v Italy U21 play-off preview

• Italy drew 1-1 with 2000 finals hosts Slovakia on the way to the fourth of their record five titles.

• That group match – featuring Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Christian Abbiati and Szilárd Németh – is the only time the teams have met in a competitive fixture.

• That 2000 tournament, when they finished fourth, is Slovakia's only finals appearance. They won a play-off before being appointed as hosts.

• Italy prevailed 4-1 when the sides met in a friendly last August in Senec in Luigi Di Biagio's first game in charge. Lorenzo Crisetig scored two penalties and the home team had Dionatan Teixeira sent off before half-time.

• Play-off records (ties): Slovakia – W1 L1; Italy – W7 L1

Andrea Belotti struck four times for Italy©Getty Images

Qualifying campaign
Slovakia: W5 D2 L1 F19 A7 (Group 3 winners)
Italy: W6 D0 L2 F19 A7 (Group 9 winners)

• Slovakia stunned two-time winners the Netherlands on the final day of qualifying, a 1-0 away victory allowing them to leapfrog their opponents to top the section by a point. Ivan Galád's side lost just once, 2-1 in Scotland last October.

• Italy were defeated twice in their opening five outings, trailing leaders Belgium by four points at one stage. They closed with three wins, though, including a recovery from 2-0 down to beat Serbia in their penultimate match, which all but sealed top spot.

Coaches' view
Ivan Galád, Slovakia: "Italy have been champions five times, they were finalists last time. They're a great side and they're the favourites. But we want to show our brand of football. We don't want to be dark horses. We want to be a team that fights until the end and to earn our place at the European Championship."

Luigi Di Biagio, Italy: "I was impressed by them when we played them. We beat them 4-1 in a friendly last year, but they played with ten men from very early on. They are a great team, they've shown that in qualifying. They played very well against us and the result was not a true reflection of the match."