Italy thump Czech Republic as Spain & Portugal play out draw

Italy continued their perfect preparation for Euro 2020 with a thumping 4-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Friday.

Roberto Mancini’s men handed San Marino their usual mauling last week to the tune of a 7-0 victory, and although they didn’t score as many goals this time around, they looked just as comfortable from start to finish.

It was Lazio hitman Ciro Immobile who put his side ahead in the 23rd minute with a composed finish from inside the box, and after unleashing shot after shot on the Czech goal, Nicolo Barella added a second shortly before the break.

The Inter midfielder appeared to slip as he sent in a shot from distance, but his effort took a wicked deflection and left Jiri Pavlenka helpless in the Czech goal.

Italy remained on top in the second half and bagged a third through the impressive Lorenzo Insigne, whose 66th-minute strike was soon followed by another effort from Domenico Berardi to steer Italy to a comfortable victory.

Mancini’s men had more fun than Spain, who were held to an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Portugal earlier in the day.

The game won’t live long in the memory – with Portugal having just one shot on target and Spain only mustering up two – but it’s a game which will have meant a lot to Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, who made his debut for Spain after switching his international allegiance from France last month.

Elsewhere, some of the best entertainment could be found in Slovenia, where Gibraltar were on the receiving end of a 6-0 thrashing. Atalanta’s Josip Ilicic bagged twice, with Andraz Sporar adding two and Jan Mlakar and Jon Gorenc Stankovic finishing up the fun.

There were narrow victories for Iceland, Hungary, Kosovo and Estonia, while Latvia and North Macedonia both picked up solid wins of their own.

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