Italy and Poland played out a 0-0 draw in Gdansk this evening, with the Azzurri failing to break down a stubborn Poland side. However, Mancini’s men remain top of their UEFA Nations League group, with the match between Bosnia and the Netherlands having also ended in a stalemate earlier on in the day. The Azzurri’s upcoming match against the Netherlands in Bergamo on Wednesday will now be particularly vital. Italy sit on five points in the standings, one ahead of both the Dutch and Poland and three ahead of Bosnia. The team are now 18 matches unbeaten (14 wins and four draws), with Roberto Mancini continuing to have the best record out of any Italy Head Coach in the past 50 years after the same number of games played.

Italy will leave Gdansk feeling like they’ve let two points slip. However, a big positive evening was the fact that the Azzurri played in front of a crowd once more: 9,000 fans attended the match at the Stadion Energa Gdansk, a third of the stadium’s capacity and in line with UEFA’s latest directives.

THE MATCH – After drawing against Bosnia and beating the Netherlands in September, and then following these results up with a big victory over Moldova, Italy came up against a strong side in Poland in Gdansk tonight. The pitch conditions weren’t optimal either, while the Azzurri also had to contend with Lewandowski, widely considered to be the best striker in the world right now.

For the clash against the Poles, Mancini opted for Bonucci and Acerbi as his centre-back pairing in front of Donnarumma, with Chiellini, who was an injury concern before the match, remaining on the bench. Meanwhile, Florenzi and Emerson were selected as the right and left full-backs respectively. Italy’s midfield trio consisted of Barella, Jorginho and Verratti, while Chiesa, Belotti and Pellegrini formed the team’s attacking trident.

Italy had the first chance of the match in the tenth minute as Pellegrini headed Barella’s cross wide. A minute later, Chiesa failed to score from close range at the back post after Verratti and Belotti had combined. Barella also nodded over as Italy continued to press.

Poland seemed to be struggling, but, with 13 minutes on the clock, Jorginho gave the ball away and Bonucci had to intervene to deny Lewandowski. Four minutes later, the Polish striker threatened once more, with Emerson making a brilliant tackle to deny him following a counter-attack from the home side.

It was an exciting and, at times, end-to-end match, but Italy remained in control. In the 34th minute, Pellegrini had a go, but his right-footed effort from Belotti’s assist was blocked.

With the first half having come to an end with the score at 0-0, the same players returned to the pitch for the second half. The Azzurri were aggressive right from the off, earning three corners in the first five minutes and forcing Poland to defend in their own half. However, the hosts finally managed to break forward after 52 minutes, and Donnarumma was forced into a solid near-post stop after Moder had let fly.

Mancini made his first change of the game on the 70-minute mark, replacing Chiesa with Kean, while Milik came on for Poland to provide support for Lewandowski. As was the case in the first half, there were plenty of mistakes from both sides as the players struggled to deal with the pitch conditions.

In the 78th minute, the Head Coach brought on Locatelli for Barella, and two minutes later Italy had a great chance: unfortunately, Emerson wasn’t able to get a shot away due to some stubborn defending. Eight minutes from time, Caputo and Berardi came on for the Azzurri, while Lewandowski made way for Linetti. And the latter could have won it too: his shot was deflected by Acerbi and thankfully ended in the side netting in the dying minutes.