LIVE streaming: Spain vs Italy - Watch Casillas vs Buffon on March 5

Topics: Live Stream, Live Scores, TV schedules, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Italy, Spain, ESPN

Wednesday will be a case of red versus blue as two of Europe's strongest teams go head-to-head in a friendly clash.

Preview: Expect a highly entertaining clash between la Furia Roja and gli Azzurri

Spain and Italy are no strangers--with the two sides last meeting up in the Confederations Cup where after a 0-0 stalemate the reigning World Cup and EURO champions emerged victorious after a penalty shoot-out. In fact, la Furia Roja presently hold the better record with three wins out of their last five meetings, with gli Azzurri's last triumph coming back in August 2011 when goals from Riccardo Montolivo and Alberto Aquilani were enough to cancel out Xabi Alonso's equalising spot-kick.

Indeed, so familiar are the duo that Italian national team coach Cesare Prandelli mused that being they are "certain" to meet at some point in Brazil, "it would have been better not to play this game, as I'm sure we'll progress in the World Cup and end up facing off against them anyway. But our organisers wanted it."

However, given that it is a friendly match, both sides will be keen to test out some less familiar faces, with the most notable inclusion for Spain being Atletico Madrid's Brazilian-born attacker Diego Costa. The 25-year-old has been in sparkling form for los Rojiblancos and is a key reason why his side has transformed La Liga into a three-way race for the title this season.

As a result, more experienced attackers such as Fernando Torres and David Villa find themselves excluded. And, despite his strong showings for Juventus, there is also no place for Fernando Llorente in the group.

Another exclusion is Barcelona's captain Carles Puyol. Despite Vincente Del Bosque's claim last month that "no one will be ruled out of the World Cup squad, much less Puyol", the team's assistant coach, Toni Grande recently conceded that "it's looking very difficult" for the 35-year-old to be on the plane to Brazil in a few months.

As for Italy, they will be without Roma's Daniele De Rossi, who was dropped due to a fracas with Inter attacker Mauro Icardi on Saturday during his side's scoreless draw. Milan attacker Mario Balotelli also misses out due to a shoulder injury sustained during the Rossoneri's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid last month.

There are also a few new faces, notably Torino's Ciro Immobile who gets his first call-up as a result of his good displays for the Granata. The 24-year-old's 13 goals so far sees him as his side's leading scorer this season and tied for third in the race for the capocannoniere award.

Finally, iconic goalkeeping duo and respective club and national team captains Iker Casillas and Gigi Buffon could possibly feature in what is hopefully to be an entertaining clash for both fans and neutrals alike.