Italy 2 Albania 1: Bajrami scores fastest goal in Euros history, Barella leads fightback

If Italy wanted a wake-up call in their defence of the European Championship they got one — after 23 seconds.

Nedim Bajrami stunned the holders when he capitalised on woeful defending to score the fastest goal in the tournament’s history.

The response was simply brilliant from Luciano Spalletti’s team — Alessandro Bastoni heading them level after 11 minutes and Nicolo Barella firing them in front five minutes later.

Barella, an injury doubt before the tournament, was a class act throughout and Spalletti’s men grew in confidence as the game went on — but it took a brilliant 90th-minute save (complete with trademark celebration) from Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny former Inter Milan forward Rey Manaj an equaliser. Italy may not be as strong as they once were but they will take some beating.

The Athletic’s James Horncastle and Nancy Froston picked out the talking points from an intriguing game in Dortmund.

How Albania scored quickest goal at Euros

Albania will always have their piece of European Championship history thanks to Bajrami’s quick thinking — and Italy’s sloppiness. Federico Dimarco was at fault as his loose throw was seized on by the alert Bajrami on the edge of the box.

There was still plenty of work to do for the forward who plays in Serie A with Sassuolo. A lightening quick drop of the shoulder gave him space against covering defender Bastoni.

Before he unleashed a thumping shot high into the net that beat Donnarumma at the near post.

It sent the travelling Albanian support wild and nobody saw that coming from the side ranked 66th in the world — and the second-lowest ranked side in the competition — but Sylvinho’s side were up for it from the off.

Nancy Froston

Is Barella the one player Italy can’t lose?

And to think Barella was a major doubt for Euro 2024. The pain he was in from a thigh strain was so bad, it was speculated Italy might have to cut him from the squad and call up another midfielder.

Spalletti had left at home Giacomo Bonaventura, a player he labelled “our Jude Bellingham”. But he couldn’t go without one of the core figures in Italy’s triumph at the last Euros in 2021.

Barella, absent from the warm-up matches against Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina, trained fully on the eve of the game and showed why he is one of the world’s best all-action midfielders.

The 27-year-old has always known how to put some Sardinian swaz on his shots but this was one of his finest for Italy. He stunned it first time with next to no back-lift.

What is happening?! 😅

ANOTHER goal as Italy take the lead!#ITAALB #BBCEuros #Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/jCuLu0Y2cq

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 15, 2024

Much has been made of Italy’s lack of a goalscorer. No one in the squad has scored more goals for Italy than Barella. This was his 10th goal for his country.

GO DEEPER

The Radar - The Athletic's 50 players to watch at Euro 2024

James Horncastle

Will Scamacca find his scoring touch?

On the subject of goals, no one begrudged Spalletti’s decision to go with Gianluca Scamacca up front. His form since March has been so good for his club, Atalanta, that the prolific start Mateo Retegui made to his Italy career no longer seemed to matter.

As Spalletti said on the eve of Italy’s opener against Albania: “Scamacca is a complete player. He has everything.” The 25-year-old Roman went through his usual repertoire. He attempted an acrobatic bicycle kick. He hit a shot so hard it almost sent an Albanian defender into the Westfalenstadion’s Yellow Wall. He should perhaps have scored when Lorenzo Pellegrini nodded down a ball for him to latch onto at the near post.

Unfortunately for him, Thomas Strakosha in the Albanian goal produced a fine save. Scamacca’s club-mate, the team’s captain and centre-half Berat Djimsiti, knows his tendencies well.

Scamacca’s build-up play was impressive (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)

Critics will continue to point out that Scamacca only has one senior international goal to his name. It came in the defeat to England at Wembley last autumn. But his ability to hold up the ball, turn and play in his old Sassuolo team-mate Davide Frattesi over and over again is the kind of tough-to-defend go-to attack Italy will continue to lean on in Germany.

James Horncastle

Will Sylvinho stick with Strakosha?

After a lightning-quick start for Albania, Italy settled into the game and were on top as many might have predicted.

Defensive duties kept Sylvinho’s side busy for much of the match, with goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha key in keeping the score at 2-1. Bastoni and Barella got beyond the Brentford ‘keeper but several big saves should be enough for him to retain his place for their next group game.

Strakosha brilliantly denies Frattesi (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)

Strakosha and 35-year-old Etrit Berisha, who plays for Empoli, shared starting duties in qualifying, with six and five appearances respectively. Defence had been a strong point for Albania during qualification with only four goals going against them on the way to the finals and Strakosha’s save from Frattesi in the first half — getting a fingertip to a goalward shot to tip it onto the post — was the standout from a night where he was kept busy.

Nancy Froston

What did Italy coach Luciano Spalletti say?

“There were a lot of good things,” Spalletti told Italian outlet RAI. “Particularly in the first half but they have to lead somewhere. They can’t be an end in themselves. There were opportunities to go and do damage on several occasions. We didn’t go about finishing moves as fast as we could. Often we turned around and went back again to see if we’d carved out the space to finish the move.”

The Italy manager played down his side’s supposed reliance on Barella, however. “A national team can’t go without anyone,” he said. “We have 26 very good players so that’s the wrong way to look at it.

“Ever since I started coaching, I’ve been told what matters is winning. No, what matters is playing well. In order for us to strive to win EURO 2024 we have to play good football. We were a bit deep in the first half, and it allowed Albania to use their physicality, to get it into the mixer. We have to keep faith in our style – that’s the route forward.

“Spain will probably set up differently to Albania, and squeeze us more. We’ll need to move the ball more quickly than we did tonight. Against Spain we’ll need to move the ball forwards more, and look to play balls in behind the defence.”

What did Albania coach Sylvinho say?

“We started the game well with an early goal. The team was so excited after the goal but we should have performed better, especially in the first half. In the second we managed better and we had chances to score through Manaj.

“We could have managed the game better but we must not forget that we were up against a very good team. Italy quickened the tempo. It was a very important match for both sides. They had to win the game because it is a very tough group. We weren’t able to resist.

“It’s not easy, they’re a good side. Had we not conceded the second goal, it would have been a good match for us. We weren’t able to withstand their attacks and it was hard for 25 minutes.

“I need to go out there and thank the Albanians, it was incredible, we said two days ago, the stadium would be red, so many proud Albanians outside to have a team at the Euros. It was a shame we couldn’t equalise in the last minutes.

“Once you are used to playing these competitions, it’s easy. I’m used to playing in Champions League. As a player, I know what to expect to play against Real Madrid and Juventus. When you’re not used to it, you have no idea. Even people say it’s a high level tournament, but you have no idea, you didn’t play in this competition. It will not be easy.

“Once you’ve played the first game, the players just block it. The first 10 or 15 minutes it was crazy for us. I believe when I saw the fans, it was amazing, beautiful.”

What next for Italy?

Thursday, June 20: Spain (Gelsenkirchen), 8pm BST, 3pm ET

What next for Albania?

Wednesday, June 19: Croatia (Hamburg), 2pm BST, 9am ET

Italy 2 Albania 1: Bajrami scores fastest goal in Euros history, Barella leads fightback – The Briefing