Given that both Italy and Croatia had won all three games thus far in their EURO 2016 qualifying group, Sunday's match at San Siro was set to be a spicy encounter. However, things got a lot crazier than many viewers had expected and the game had to be eventually suspended while the riot police dealt with some rowdy visiting fans.
After the smoke--no pun intended--had settled, the Azzurri attempted to build up momentum, and were fortunate to see Ivan Perisic, who had equalised after Antonio Candreva's goal, fail to net a brace as his attempt flew wide of Gigi Buffon's post. Yet, despite maintaing a long-standing unbeaten record at home, Antonio Conte certainly will not be pleased with his team's overall performance and will introduce some new faces for the upcoming friendly with Albania.
Players like Sampdoria's Stefano Okaka, who has excelled so far this season and was a surprise non-inclusion for the match against Croatia, are among those to get the nod. Also making his international debut is Sassuolo defender Francesco Acerbi, who successfully battled his way back to full health after being diagnosed with cancer last year.
Italy have never faced off against Albania, at least not at the senior level, but given that this is a friendly it could represent a good chance for Conte not only to try out new players, but also tinker with his preferred 3-5-2 formation. Nonetheless, despite the fact that their opponents have never qualified for a major international competition, Italy may not want to take them lightly. Gianni De Biasi's men held France to a 1-1 draw in their most recent friendly and have fared decently in their EURO 2016 qualifying group with four points from three matches seeing them in third place, so they will certainly be keen on proving themselves against a side they have never faced before.
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