Soccer
AC Milan legend picks Italy's star player for Euro 2024
Check your region for UCL & UWCL on DAZN
Italy are making their final preparations ahead of defending their European Championship title in Germany.
They were victorious in the Euro 2020 final after beating England on penalties, and will be looking to be the first team to retain the trophy since Spain in 2012.
As is often the case with Italy, they are an unpredictable team, but they do have some notable talent in the squad including Federico Chiesa who had a breakthrough tournament at the previous European Championship.
Speaking to OLBG, former AC Milan and Italy midfielder Massimo Ambrosini has backed Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella to be the standout player for his national team following an impressive season at the San Siro.
"Of course Italy’s most important player is Nicolo Barella. The level he reached in this last season with Inter showed him to be a top player," Ambrosini said.
"For me, he needed to reach one more step to become a very, very top player, but this season he has added so much more to his game.
"He’s a strong player, box to box, then he needed to add more skill to his game, which he did on the ball last season, he has more than he had in the past."
Italy begin their European Championship defence on Saturday against Albania, before facing Spain and Croatia in the other two group stage matches.
Live on DAZN: Subriel Matias vs. Liam Paro on June 15. Click here for details.
