Gattuso: ‘Italy lost excellence by trying to do something different’

Gennaro Gattuso feels Italy ‘lost some of that strength by trying to do something different’ from their rock solid defensive roots. ‘We must get back to that block everyone in the world was wary of.’

It kicks off at the Le Coq Arena in Tallinn at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

Before that, in the same group, Norway host Israel at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).

Still playing catch-up to the Norwegian leaders, the Azzurri are forced to win every game and hope for a good result in their final showdown.

Although Italy won both fixtures under Gattuso, the 5-4 victory over Israel flagged serious issues with defending.

“I want to see a courageous Nazionale this evening, but the lads must also be able to sniff out danger,” the CT told RAI Sport.

“It is a long journey ahead of us, but we’ve got to get back to being the team we were before.”