Euro 2024, Switzerland oust defending champions Italy in R16: Stats
Switzerland have knocked out Italy from the 2024 UEFA European Championship. The Swiss claimed a solid 2-0 win over the defending champions, who were below-par. Italy lacked flair and quality as it made the Swiss look better than they were. Switzerland will play either England or Slovakia in the quarter-finals. Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas scored for Switzerland. Here's more.
Quarter-finals!
Here are the match stats
Switzerland had 0.98 expected goals compared to Italy's 0.05. The Swiss had 10 attempts with three shots on target. Italy had no shots on target from one attempt. Switzerland clocked 20 shots in the opposition box. Italy managed just four touches.
Granit Xhaka enjoys a solid match
Granit Xhaka was solid for Switzerland. As per Squawka, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Xhaka managed 101 touches and won 100% aerial duels. He also completed 94/98 passes and made 16 final third entries (most). He made 3 chances and had one clearance.
Switzerland down Italy 2-0
Switzerland dominated ball possession in the first half before Ruben Vargas crossed for Freuler, who took a touch before smashing a low shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma. 27 seconds into the start of the second half saw Vargas double the lead. He picked up Michel Aebischer's pass. Italy did not manage a shot on target until the 73rd minute. They crashed the post late on.
Unwanted records for Italy
Italy have lost two games in a single edition of the UEFA European Championship for the first time in their history. Italy have failed to reach the quarters of a UEFA European Championship finals for the first time since 2004 (eliminated at the group stage). This was Italy's maiden knockout match defeat at the Euro finals since losing to Spain in 2012 (4-0).
