Jonathan Wilson was in Munich to witness this fine match in person. His report has just landed ... and here it is. Get clicking, people. Congratulations to Italy, commiserations to Belgium, and thanks to you all for reading this MBM. Hope to see you again tomorrow. Nighty night!
The one downer for Italy - and it’s a big one - is the loss to injury of the hamstrung Leonardo Spinazzola. The marauding left-back has been one of the sensations of the tournament, so entertaining to watch in full flight, and one of those nice late-blooming career stories to boot. His presence will be missed, though you’d still back these exciting Italians to see off unconvincing Spain at Wembley next week. But it’s tournament football, so, well, y’know.
Italy cavort with glee. Belgium look slightly stunned. Over the piece, Italy more than deserve to win: Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne scored two wonder goals, and the renowned defence held on staunchly as Belgium threw everything at them during the final exchanges. The Belgians had a couple of second-half opportunities that, on another day, would get forced into the net from close range, but Romelu Lukaku suffered an off day. Roberto Mancini embraces his players, while Roberto Martinez locates a spot roughly 1,000 yards into the distance, and looks at it quite a lot. Italy are a team on the up; Belgium’s golden generation is quickly running out of chances to convert all that potential into pots.
FULL TIME: Belgium 1-2 Italy
The whistle goes! The in-form Italians are in the semis, where they’ll face Spain! Belgium, the world number one team, are out. Their golden generation have come up short again.
90 min +7: Courtois comes forward, but no Alisson he. Vermaelen loops a harmless header over the bar, and that is surely that. Donnarumma celebrates knowing Italy are through.
90 min +6: Doku dribbles in from the left. The ball goes wide right for Witsel, whose cross is headed out by Chiellini. Corner. One last chance for Belgium!
90 min +5: Belotti takes the ball to the corner. Whistles from Italy’s fans, a fug of desperation over Belgium’s.
90 min +4: Donnarumma smothers an aimless long ball. Italy are seeing this out in very assured fashion.
90 min +3: Eventually the physios come on, then Donnarumma restarts the match. Vertonghen clumsily clatters into Di Lorenzo and concedes a foul. The clock ticks on. Vertonghen loses his cool a little, ranting and raving as Italy once again go about their business with clock-management very much in mind.
90 min +2: So this is the second of five added minutes, and now there will surely be more, because Donnarumma is still down, and the Italian physios haven’t even come on yet! This is old-school Italy.
90 min +1: Before De Bruyne can reload, Toloi replaces Chiesa. De Bruyne then floats the free kick into the mixer. Donnarumma comes to claim, but drops. The referee blows for a free kick, Witsel having clattered into him. It wasn’t much of a foul, but the keeper takes the opportunity to hit the deck and demand some treatment.
Updated
90 min: He blooters the free kick into Berardi’s back. But he’ll get a chance to retake, because Berardi was only a couple of yards away! The Italian is booked.
89 min: De Bruyne is clipped from behind by Berardi, 25 yards out, just to the left of centre. Big chance from the set piece coming up! Can De Bruyne conjure something up?
88 min: This won’t come as too much of a surprise, but Italy are now happy to sit back and keep their shape. Can Belgium break through the stingiest defence in world football?
86 min: Doku dribbles in from the left again, entering the box and almost demanding to be fouled. Jorginho rather cheekily whips the ball off his toe. A perfectly timed challenge, and one that required ice in the veins / rocks in the head. Imagine if he’d got that wrong! But, y’know, hats off.
84 min: Doku drops a shoulder to shift infield from the left touchline. Then another jink. Then another! It’s a wonderful dribble, and he nearly concludes it in memorable style, aiming for the top right. Just a bit too high, and an inch or two wide. That would have been some way to nudge this game towards extra time!
83 min: Lukaku eyebrows a headed pass down the right to release Witsel, but with options in the middle, the Belgium midfielder can’t get his cross past Bonucci.
82 min: Italy are taking their sweet time over every restart, much to the annoyance of Belgium and their fans.
81 min: The camera tracks Spinazzola’s journey around the perimeter. The stricken player covers his face as he continues to sob. A heartbreaking way for one of the players of the tournament to leave the stage. There will probably be a fair bit of time added on to this second half.
79 min: As Spinazzola departs on a stretcher, to be replaced by Emerson, Italy also swap Insigne for Berardi.
Updated
77 min: Spinazzola slips as he tries to sprint down the left, and he knows immediately that his hamstring is gone. He calmly gesticulates to the bench, then falls to the turf, breaking down in tears, suddenly realising his tournament is over. Such a shame for him, for Italy, for all of us; he’s been sensational this month.
75 min: Lukaku rolls a pass across the face of the Italian box to tee up De Bruyne. The resulting shot is blocked. Lukaku tries again. That’s blocked too, and the ball balloons softly into the arms of Donnarumma.
74 min: Italy make a double change. Off go Immobile and Verratti, on come Belotti and Cristante.
73 min: Poor old Chadli goes down with a muscle problem. He can’t continue. His evening has lasted three minutes. So close to an instant assist, but now this heartbreak. Praet comes on in the sub’s place.
71 min: Somewhere in a parallel universe, Lukaku has completed his hat-trick in the second half, bundling home twice from a couple of yards. But not in this one. The small margins.
70 min: Belgium make a double change, swapping Tielemans and Meunier for Mertens and Chadli. Both of the new men are immediately in the thick of the action. Mertens drives down the middle and slips Chadli into space on the left. Chadli loops into the centre, but Lukaku is ahead of the ball, and can’t head home from six yards. Instead, behind him, Hazard desperately tries to connect with a back-flick, but Italy escape again.
Updated
69 min: Insigne cuts in from the left and looks for the bottom right. His curler is on target, but palmed away strongly by Courtois.
68 min: Vermaelen slides into Insigne out on the left. Free kick coming up. It’s sent towards Chiesa on the right flank. Chiesa returns it to the left. Immobile shapes like Mark Hughes, going for the bicycle spectacular, but takes a very unHughesian fresh-air swipe. Belgium clear.
66 min: Now it’s Italy’s turn to miss a glorious chance. Insigne curls in from the left to find Spinazzola, romping into the box. He’s the left-back! Espen B wasn’t wrong. Spinazzola sends his first-time slapshot wide left from ten yards. This is staggeringly good fun!
64 min: De Bruyne thinks he’s robbed Bonucci legally in the centre circle. If he’s right, he and Doku are making off towards Italy’s goal. But the referee blows for a foul. There wasn’t much in it. De Bruyne tilts his head back and yelps, a Pez dispenser of despair.
62 min: Italy clear the resulting corner. The ball’s blootered miles upfield. A better touch from Insigne, and he’d be clear on goal! Good luck predicting the final score of this! Meanwhile here’s Espen B: “An Italian team leading by one goal at half time coming out in the second half attacking? The world has indeed gone mad. Next thing will be England winning an international tournament. Or is that one step too far?”
61 min: What a miss by Lukaku! Doku drives down the left, drifts infield, and slips De Bruyne free down the channel. He crosses towards Lukaku at the far post. He’s just got to trundle home from a couple of yards ... but can’t force the ball past Spinazzola, who deflects the ball out for a corner! Great defending, but the Italian should never have been allowed to make the block.
Updated
59 min: Italy are drawing some very pretty triangular patterns. Some of the crowd entertain themselves with a few olés. The move predictably breaks down. Meanwhile, any old excuse ...
57 min: Vermaelen gives away a corner with a poor backpass down the Italian left. The set piece leads to Jorginho going over in the box, in the near vicinity of De Bruyne. Some Italians claim for a penalty ... but not Jorginho. We play on.
56 min: The corner’s only half cleared. Doku goes at Di Lorenzo again down the left. Di Lorenzo, perhaps understandably, doesn’t fancy engaging too much. Doku fires low to the near post, in the hope of finding Lukaku, but Donnarumma gets down well to smother.
55 min: Tielemans works his way down the right and feeds Meunier, who crosses deep for Lukaku. Bonucci is forced to turn out for a corner.
53 min: Belgium string a few passes together for the first time since the restart. They don’t really go anywhere, but that’s not the point; they’ve calmed Italy down a bit, and are slowly working their way back into this.
51 min: De Bruyne and Jorginho chase a ball down the Belgian right. The former shoves the latter in the back, causing Jorginho to chest the ball out for a corner. But it’s a foul. De Bruyne complains in the theatrical style, though he’s got some nerve given that was twice the shove Di Lorenzo gave Doku for the penalty. Still, don’t ask, don’t get.
49 min: One corner leads to another, which leads to a goal kick. Courtois clears upfield, but the white shirts are soon in possession again. Belgium haven’t really got going in this second half yet, a marked difference to the manner in which they started the first.
48 min: Roberto Mancini has clearly told his players to get after Belgium and finish them off. They’ve come flying out of the blocks at the start of this second half. Insigne worms his way down the left and wins a corner.
47 min: Insigne tees up Chiesa, on the edge of the Belgium D. Chiesa, who operates a shoot-on-sight policy, whistles an effort wide right.
46 min: Insigne is immediately on the attack, scampering down the left. He’d be within his rights to go for another curler - he’s got plenty of moral credit after his first-half stunner - but opts to find Immobile on the opposite flank instead. Poor choice, poor pass.
Italy get the second half underway. Neither manager has blinked yet; no changes. Here’s Billy Graboso: “Expect the Italians to win a penalty in the second half. Belgium’s penalty was quite soft.” Christopher Burke adds: “I think the penalty was a penalty, but overall I find this referee too credulous when players hit the floor. I don’t trust him to keep a lid on things in the second half.”
A reminder that the winner of this high-octane in-play classic will face Spain in the semi-finals. Nick Ames was in St Petersburg to watch the Swiss lose a fairly low-quality penalty shootout.
Half-time entertainment ... for those of you who may have heard that there’s a match going on tomorrow night.
Not for the first time during Euro 2020, Mary Waltz speaks for us all. “Hot damn! Shit howdy! It’s crackin! It’s bumpin’! Oh my! Choose your favorite expression, this match has it all.”
HALF TIME: Belgium 1-2 Italy
That’s the last act of a frenetic, frantic, freestyle first half! What entertainment! Italy were well worth their two-goal lead, having scored a couple of absolute peaches. But that light shove on Doku - which Italy are still complaining about as the teams leave the pitch - has brought the world number one team back into it. You’re not going to go anywhere, are you? Thought not. See you for the second half!
GOAL! Belgium 1-2 Italy (Lukaku 45+2)
Lukaku gives Donnarumma the eyes, sending the keeper to his right, then skelping the penalty down the middle!
Updated
45 min +1: VAR has a good look at the decision, but the penalty stands. A huge moment coming up! Lukaku to take.
Penalty for Belgium!
45 min: Doku has been extremely quiet. But now look! He drives down the left and enters the Italian box. He gets just ahead of Di Lorenzo, who shoves him in the small of the back. Over he goes, and the referee points to the spot!
Updated
GOAL! Belgium 0-2 Italy (Insigne 44)
Insigne dribbles down the left. He cuts inside, past Tielemans with ease, then aims a power curler towards the top right. In it goes! Courtois was at full strength, but had no chance. What a goal! Another pearler!
Updated
43 min: Spinazzola burns down the left before finding Immobile at the near post with a low cross. Immobile is six yards out, but can’t find the space to shoot. He turns and eventually the chance is gone. No matter, though, because ...
41 min: Di Lorenzo’s right-wing cross earns another Italian corner. Insigne’s delivery is half-cleared to Chiesa, 20 yards out. He sets himself, checks his line, and curls a fine effort inches wide of the top right. Not entirely sure Courtois was getting to that, had it been on target.
39 min: Witsel slaps a hand across Verratti’s mouth as the pair tussle in midfield. He wants his opponent booked, but this time the referee doesn’t respond to the prompting. Witsel is slightly lucky to get away with that.
38 min: Now it’s Belgium’s turn to probe patiently in the opposition half. Italy aren’t minded to be pulled out of shape.
36 min: Italy’s high press is causing Belgium more than a few problems. They ship possession in their own half, allowing Barella the opportunity for another shot, this time from a great distance. It’s weak and wide right.
34 min: Belgium respond through Meunier, who romps down the right and whips in a low cross that deflects off Jorginho and nearly whistles into the bottom right of the Italy goal. Donnarumma probably had that covered, but even so. Sheesh. Nothing comes of the corner. This is breathless and brilliant.
33 min: That was a sensational goal! Barella turned on a sixpence and in one swift, elegant pirouette, saw off Vermaelen, Vertonghen and Hazard. The finish into the bottom left wasn’t half bad either.
GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Italy (Barella 31)
Italy take the free kick quickly. Immobile goes down, wanting a penalty. He’s not getting one. Belgium only half clear. Verratti, to the right of the D, feeds Barella down the channel. Barella squeaks through a gap, past three at once, and buries a shot across Courtois and into the bottom left! This one counts!
Updated
31 min: Di Lorenzo makes good down the right and is crudely blocked by Hazard. Free kick. From which ...
30 min: Insigne whips the corner to the near post. Vermaelen clears.
29 min: Italy suddenly pick it up, Chiesa bustling on the edge of the Belgian box before feeding Spinazzola down the left. The exciting left-back wins Italy’s first corner of the game.
28 min: Italy slow it down again. It’s fair to say this match is ebbing and flowing, in a very pleasing fashion.
26 min: Belgium break at speed, Lukaku sashaying down the inside-right channel and going for the sidefooted curler into the bottom left. It’s heading in, but again Donnarumma refuses to be beaten. Nothing comes from the corner, and it’s Italy’s turn to break, Chiesa nearly forcing into the top-left corner from the middle of a penalty-box melee. Courtois claims. And breathe!
24 min: Italy respond with some of their slower, more meticulous probing up the other end. It’s great fun, this game, with both teams going about their business in their own signature styles.
Updated
22 min: A poorly directed Alderweireld pass deflects wide right to De Bruyne, who is suddenly, fortunately, in an awful lot of space. He glides infield and reaches the edge of the D, whereupon he launches what initially looks like an unstoppable curler towards the top left. But suddenly Donnarumma sticks out a strong arm and makes an outrageous stop. A top-drawer shot with a save to match. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
21 min: Tielemans then clips Verratti from behind. A completely pointless challenge, with the Italian going nowhere. Verratti demands another yellow is shown, and he gets his wish.
20 min: The first yellow card of the evening is awarded to Verratti, who cynically tugs back an in-flight Tielemans.
19 min: This match is being played at a fair old lick. Both teams seem minded to go for it, that they’re not going to leave this competition wondering. Plenty of players thrown into attacks.
17 min: The corner leads to bedlam in the Italy box. The ball eventually breaks to De Bruyne, who thumps a shot goalwards from the edge of the box. Chiellini gets his head in the way to block.
16 min: Tielemans attempts to recreate his FA Cup final cracker, by taking a pop from a similar position to the one that did for Chelsea. His shot is deflected out for a corner.
NO GOAL! Belgium 0-0 Italy
14 min: VAR has a very quick look, and chalks the goal off. Chiellini was offside when the free kick was taken, as were both Di Lorenzo and Bonucci when the ball was flicked on.
Updated
GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Italy (Bonucci 13)
Insigne swings it in low. Chiellini flicks it on, towards the far post. Di Lorenzo helps. Bonucci chests into the bottom left. Simple as that!
Updated
13 min: Hazard clumsily clanks into the back of Jorginho, who was going nowhere in particular down the right. Free kick, and a chance for Italy to line everyone up on the edge of the Belgian box. And from the free kick...
12 min: So having said that, Meunier drives down the right wing and wins Belgium another corner. De Bruyne takes, Jorginho clears.
10 min: Some more sterile possession for Italy, just inside the Belgian half. They’ve done a good job of quelling some of that early Belgian vim.
8 min: Italy spend their first prolonged spell in the Belgian half. They slow it down a bit, before throwing a few men forward. Insigne then flays an overly ambitious pass out for a goal kick and starts apologising to all and sundry.
6 min: The surprise replacement for Eden Hazard - the 19-year-old Rennes forward Jeremy Doku - dribbles down the left and rolls harmlessly infield, where Donnarumma gathers. But that’s given Di Lorenzo and Bonucci something to think about.
5 min: Insigne, deep on the left, finds Chiesa to the right of the Belgium goal with a raking diagonal pass. Chiesa does extremely well to keep it in play and hook into the centre, but can only waft into the arms of Courtois.
4 min: A long ball down the middle releases Lukaku, who sends a rising rasper over the bar from 25 yards. The flag then goes up, correctly, for offside. Belgium have flown out of the blocks here.
3 min: De Bruyne swings it in. Chiellini heads clear. A fine atmosphere in Munich. “Why does everyone love watching Italy sing their anthem?” wonders Mary Waltz. “Because they sing it with a spirit of loving their country, not hating another one.”
2 min: Belgium have started fast. They win the first corner of the game, down the left, Lukaku again making his presence felt.
And we’re off! Belgium get the ball rolling after both sets of players take the knee. They’re on the front foot immediately, De Bruyne finding Lukaku down the inside-left channel. Lukaku bursts into the box but can’t get a shot away. What a start that would have been!
Here, Belgium captain Jan Vertonghen gave his opposite number Giorgio Chiellini a pennant and a bag. Not sure what’s in the bag. Some other Belgian FA branded trinket, no doubt. A key fob? A coaster? A bag? Vertonghen just got the pennant. No bag for him. He doesn’t look particularly upset about it, to be fair.
Updated
The teams are out! Belgium sport their devilish red, while the Azzurri are wearing second-choice white. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes, once coins have been tossed and pennants exchanged.
Pre-match prediction. I’ll not be making one, so here’s Matt Burtz to plug that gap. “As an Everton fan, I’m quite familiar with the travails of having Roberto Martinez as your manager, and his all too frequent naivete at the time was his ultimate undoing at Goodison. But this is a different Martinez, a more pragmatic one, and he seems to have figured out the best plan for Belgium. One goal conceded over four games is nothing to sneeze at, and being able to put Romelu Lukaku on the field every game certainly enhances your chances of scoring at least one. Italy are formidable, there is no doubt about that, but I think Belgium continues to be undervalued in this tournament and will advance here.”
The winner of this tie will play Spain, who have just this minute beaten Switzerland on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw. Barry Glendenning has it all going on.
The national anthems. If the lyrics of La Brabançonne ...
Noble Belgium! O, mother dear / To you we stretch our hearts and arms / With blood to spill for you, O fatherland!
... and Il Canto degli Italiani are anything to go by ...
Let us join in a cohort / We are ready to die / We are ready to die / Italy has called!
... everyone will be in quite the bellicose mood this evening. With this in mind, it may be worth remembering that both teams have three players on a booking, and who would miss any semi-final action should they pick up a yellow tonight. Toby Alderweireld, Thomas Vermaelen and Thorgan Hazard are the Belgians treading a fine line, while Italy’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Nicolo Barella and Matteo Pessina must also take care.
The two Robertos. Mancini and Martinez have also previously locked horns at a showpiece occasion. Martinez will remember this particular match more fondly, on account of it being his signature achievement to date; by contrast, it went some way to costing his opposite number their job. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2013 FA Cup final, between Martinez’s Wigan and Mancini’s Manchester City.
Italy and Belgium have met in the quarter finals of the European Championship before, back in 1972. The Italians were at the tail end of a productive era under Ferruccio Valcareggi, who led the Azzurri to victory at Euro 1968, then to the 1970 World Cup final in Mexico. The European champions were expected to get past Belgium two years later, but their meeting against Raymond Goethals’ side proved to be the end of the line.
The first leg in Milan is best remembered for Goethals storming the pitch in a fit of pique when the referee refused to stop the game so Maurice Martens could get treatment. The Carabinieri hauled Goethals off the field and locked him in the dressing room. Gigi Riva went close with a late shot, but that was as close as the reigning champs got, and the match ended goalless.
During the first half of the return leg in Brussels, Wilfried Van Moer scored, then got his leg broken by Mario Bertini. Paul Van Himst made it two, and though Riva notched a late penalty that had been won by Fabio Capello, the Belgians were through. They were beaten in the semi-final by the great West Germany side of Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Gunter Netzer, who went on to win the whole thing.
The teams
Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, Thorgan Hazard, Doku, De Bruyne, Lukaku.
Subs: Boyata, Carrasco, Sels, Mertens, Denayer, Dendoncker, Benteke, Chadli, Batshuayi, Trossard, Praet, Kaminski.
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola, Barella, Jorginho, Verratti, Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne.
Subs: Sirigu, Locatelli, Belotti, Berardi, Pessina, Emerson Palmieri, Acerbi, Cristante, Bernardeschi, Bastoni, Toloi, Meret.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
Updated
The big - and, for Belgium, very important - news is that Kevin De Bruyne has been passed fit. Eden Hazard doesn’t make it, though, and his place is taken by Jeremy Doku. That’s the only change made by Roberto Martinez from the XI sent out against Portugal.
Italy make two changes to the XI selected against Austria. Federico Chiesa is rewarded for his superb extra-time goal with a start this time, while captain Giorgio Chiellini returns from injury. Domenico Berardi and Francesco Acerbi drop to the bench.
Preamble
It’s fair to say both of these sides are bang in form. Belgium’s record in this tournament, qualifiers included, is perfect: their deposing of Portugal was their 14th win out of 14, a run that’s seen Roberto Martinez’s side score 48 goals while conceding just four. Italy’s Euro 2020 record is almost exactly the same – 14 matches, 14 wins, 46 goals for, five against – though Roberto Mancini’s men can also boast a 31-game unbeaten sequence in all internationals, a record-breaking tear-up stretching back to September 2018.
Whoever wins this Munich quarter final will, by extending their winning sequence to 15, break an all-time record currently shared with Germany. History suggests Italy are the favourites – they’ve won 14 of the 22 matches previously played between the two countries, losing only four – but Belgium have form for annoying the Italians in the Euros, having ended their reign as champions in 1972, and reached the final at their expense at Euro 80. Oh, and they’re currently ranked number one in the world. Good luck calling this one.
This promises to be one heck of a showdown, then, and not just because Euro 2020 hasn’t let us down yet. The winners will face Spain or Switzerland at Wembley next Tuesday. Good luck, everyone, may the best team maintain their aura of invincibility. Kick off at the Fussball Arena München is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s on!
