Nations League, Italy returns to San Siro

Italy-Germany in Milan

One hundred and twenty-three days after the match with France, the national team will return to play in Milan. The ‘Giuseppe Meazza’ – stadium, which last Nov. 17 had sold out (68,000 spectators, a record takings for a National team match) for the challenge with the Bleus – will in fact host Italy-Germany, the first leg match of the Nations League quarterfinals scheduled for Thursday, March 20 at 8:45 p.m.

Four previous meetings with Germany in Milan, all in friendly matches. Two wins for Italy, 3-1 in the first match at Campo Milan in January 1923 and 3-2 in May 1940 at San Siro, and two draws (1-1 and 0-0) in the friendlies played – both on Nov. 15 – in 2013 and 2016. On May 15, 1910, the national team played on the field of the Civic Arena the first match in its history, beating France with a net 6-2. Milan also held the birth of the Azzurro myth, as on January 6, 1911 against Hungary, Italy wore the Azzurri jersey for the first time. The second city after Rome to have hosted the largest number of matches of the national team (62, with a balance of 39 victories, 19 draws and 4 defeats), as well as the headquarters of the Federcalcio between 1905 and 1911, Milan has seen Italy take the field in four different facilities: the Arena Civica, the Velodromo Sempione (demolished in 1928), the Milan Field in Viale Lombardia and the San Siro Stadium, since March 3, 1980 named after Giuseppe Meazza.

In the Lombardy capital, the Azzurri have maintained an unbeaten streak that has touched a century, exactly 96 years: from ’1-2 in January 1925 with Hungary (at Milan Field, while in 1911 the other defeat to the Hungarians had come at ’Arena Civica) to ’1-2 in October 2021 with Spain at ‘Meazza’. The national team’s widest victory in Milan è Italy-France 9-4 on Jan. 18, 1920, while Austria è the ’most’faced opponent (6 times), followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary and Portugal (5).20:14 05/12/2024