[Euro U17] Spain 0-0 Italy

Despite dominating proceedings for long periods, Spain started their bid for a third straight UEFA European Under-17 Championship title with a goalless draw against Italy in Dessau-Rosslau.

The wet and windy conditions did not help either side, but it was Spain who created the better chances with Borja in particular going close on a number of occasions only to be denied by Italy goalkeeper Mattia Perin.

Spain quickly imposed their patient possession game on Italy, although it was the Azzurrini who created the first opening, when Alberto Libertazzi burst through only for Spanish No1 Edgar to pip him to the loose ball. At the other end, Borja made space down and right before crossing for Isco who was crowded out by the Italian rearguard.

The champions then created the half's best chance when, after 22 minutes, Kevin jinked his way past Simone Sini and squared for Pablo Sarabia whose side-footed shot was deflected on to the bar and away to safety. The Spanish were enjoying the vast majority of the ball, but their opponents looked dangerous on the counterattack and, just before the interval, Edgar did very well to foil Giacomo Beretta with his legs after the forward had tricked his way past Albert Dalmau.

Beretta found more space ten minutes after the break, but his shot on the turn from 12 metres out was well blocked by Marc Muniesa. The pressure was building on Italy and Alex's shot from the edge of the box was half-stopped by Perin only for Borja to miss the rebound with the goal at his mercy. Perin then beat away a fierce drive from Spain's No9 after good work by substitute Iker Muniain and despite ever-more desperate defence from Italy, they held out as both teams shared the spoils in their Group A opener.

Pasquale Salerno's Italy next play Switzerland on Saturday, while Spain face France in a rematch of last year's final.

Spain: Edgar, Albert Dalmau, Albert Blazquez, Marc Muniesa, Koke, Kevin (Cifo 69), Alex, Borja, Isco (Ruben Sobrino 64), Pablo Sarabia (Iker Muniain 56), Sergi Gomez. (Subs not used: Yeray, Adria Blanchart, Enric Saborit, Ruben Pardo.)
Italy: Mattia Perin, Alessio Campoli, Vincenzo Camilleri, Simone Sini, Marco Ezio Fossati (Leonardo Bianchi 66), Alessandro De Vitis, Stephan El Sharaawy (Simone Dell'Agnello 75), Felice Natalini, Giacomo Beretta, Alberto Libertazzi (Francesco Finocchio 50), Lorenzo Crisetig. (Subs not used: Francesco Bardi, Stefano Baraldo, Michele Camporese.)

REACTION
Pasquale Salerno (Italy coach): "Obviously it was a very tough and fast game – this is the not rhythm and pace we are used to and could be one of the reasons why we've failed to qualify for this event in recent years. However, we had three or four opportunities to score and if we were a bit more precise, we could have had Spain in more trouble. In my opinion Spain are the strongest team in this group and probably the whole tournament so I'm very content with today's performance. Of course I wanted to win the match and we played with two strikers at the beginning, but after a while I replaced one of them as Spain had control of midfield and we wanted more presence in that area."

GROUP A - MATCHDAY 1 RESULTS
Wednesday 6 May
Spain 0-0 Italy
France 1-1 Switzerland

GROUP B - MATCHDAY 1 RESULTS
Wednesday 6 May
England 1-1 Netherlands
Germany 3-1 Turkey

[Group A] - [Group B]

Source: UEFA