Left on the sidelines as the World Cup plays out in Qatar, European champions Italy aim to continue their recent revival against Albania on Wednesday.
The teams meet in Tirana, as the Azzurri plot a path to defending their crown at Euro 2024 while building on recent Nations League success.
Match preview
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Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup for a second time in succession leaves one of football's most renowned nations looking from the outside in this winter, as the global game gathers in the Middle East.
Aiming to make the most of a difficult situation, Roberto Mancini - who saw his side humbled by North Macedonia in the qualification playoffs - has opted to utilise Serie A's six-week break; summoning La Nazionale to take part in friendlies against Albania and Austria.
When they last convened, for the conclusion of their Nations League campaign, Italy secured a place in the semi-finals via a 2-0 victory over Hungary in Budapest, where they leapfrogged their hosts at the top of League A Group 3 thanks to strikes from Federico Dimarco and Napoli star Giacomo Raspadori.
Therefore, the Azzurri will take part in the final four again - having finished third last time - and can look forward to the competition's grand finale, which takes place next June.
Previously beaten by three-goal margins in both the 'Finalissima' versus South American champions Argentina and in a 5-2 crushing by Germany, Mancini's men had posted just five wins from 15 matches after their record run had swept them to victory at Wembley in the summer of 2021.
They have been able to recover admirably, then, ahead of this latest get-together, where the former Manchester City manager will come up against a familiar face in the opposition dugout.
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Italian coach Edy Reja had worked his way through several Serie A sides before being appointed Albania boss back in 2019, including Napoli, Lazio and Atalanta.
While the 77-year-old took the Eagles through the qualification process for both last year's Euros and the upcoming World Cup finals, they failed to reach either and are instead looking ahead to Euro 2024.
Still to make their debut at the global level, Albania actually won six of their 10 matches in Group I but ultimately finished third behind Qatar 2022 finalists England and Poland.
Reja's side can certainly take positives from that campaign, but failing to win once in four Nations League fixtures this year saw them avoid relegation to League C only by virtue of Russia's disqualification.
Set to face Armenia later this week, they will not then return to action until next March, against European Championship qualifying rivals Poland. Albania's other Group E counterparts in are the Czech Republic, Moldova and the Faroe Islands.
Before such matters, though, they aim to fare better against Italy than in their two most recent friendlies - October's 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia and last week's 1-0 reverse to World Cup hosts Qatar.
Team News
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Having invited an initial 30-man squad to convene at Italy's Coverciano training centre, Roberto Mancini has since seen centre-forward Gianluca Scamacca join his former Sassuolo teammate Davide Frattesi and Roma's Bryan Cristante in withdrawing.
Nonetheless, another Neroverdi star, Andrea Pinamonti, has been called up as cover and is one of several young starlets hoping to make a senior debut this month.
After playing a major role in the recent revival of Juventus, midfield pair Nicolo Fagioli and Fabio Miretti are rewarded for their form, while 16-year-old Simone Pafundi is included in order to gain experience.
Due to major injuries over recent times, both Nicolo Zaniolo and Federico Chiesa have been unavailable for the Azzurri, but the forward duo are now back and competing with Vincenzo Grifo - who scored a Bundesliga hat-trick at the weekend - to support Giacomo Raspadori up front.
Albania's squad, meanwhile, features numerous Serie A-based members, such as Torino goalkeeper Etrit Berisha, vice-captain Elseid Hysaj of Lazio, and Empoli playmaker Nedim Bajrami - all of whom are expected to start on Wednesday.
After selecting a more experimental lineup to face Qatar, Edy Reja will name his best possible XI in Tirana, with Armando Broja leading the line up front and Inter's Kristjan Asllani pulling the strings in midfield.
Albania possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Kumbulla, Ismajli, Lenjani; Hysaj, Abrashi, Asllani, Bare, Lenjani; Uzuni, Broja
Italy possible starting lineup:
Meret; Scalvini, Bonucci, Bastoni; Di Lorenzo, Verratti, Barella, Dimarco; Politano, Raspadori, Grifo
We say: Albania 1-2 Italy
Both sides will have one eye on the future this week, so a certain amount of experimentation could take place; creating a more open contest. Even so, Mancini's men boast sufficient quality across the pitch to both blood fresh talent and continue their recent renaissance with another win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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