Midfielder Nicolo Barella has been named in Italy's final 26-man squad coach Luciano Spalletti unveiled on Thursday despite missing last game through injury, with Riccardo Orsolini, Samuele Ricci and Ivan Provedel the players to miss out on the Azzurri’s title defense.
Lazio goalkeeper Provedel, however, will continue training back in Rome in case he is needed. UEFA rules stipulate that should a goalkeeper be injured or taken ill – even after his team’s first match of the tournament – he can be replaced in the squad.
Bologna winger Orsolini and Torino midfielder Ricci were the other players cut from Italy's provisional 30-man squad.
Barella, a key figure in Spalletti's plans, sat out the 0-0 draw with Türkiye on Tuesday, but his minor muscle strain is not enough to keep the Inter Milan man out of the squad.
Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi and Atalanta center back Giorgio Scalvini had to pull out through injury after the squad was announced, and Federico Gatti was called up as a replacement last week.
The 25-year-old Gatti has been retained and it is a remarkable feat for the Juventus defender, who had just finished a season in the third tier of Italian soccer when Italy won the pandemic-delayed Euro 2020 three years ago.
Gatti moved from Serie C team Pro Patria to second-division Frosinone in 2021 before joining Juventus a year later.
His Juventus teammate Nicolò Fagioli has also been included despite having only just returned from a seven-month ban for betting violations.
Italy starts its title defense against Albania in Dortmund on June 15, the day after Euro 2024 kicks off. Spain and Croatia are also in Group B.
Despite Acerbi’s withdrawal, Inter players make up just under one-fifth of the squad with Barella, Federico Dimarco, Alessandro Bastoni, Matteo Darmian and Davide Frattesi included from the Nerazzurri team that ran away with the Serie A title.
Only nine players from the triumphant Euro 2021 squad remain.
Italy has another warmup match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sunday before traveling to Germany the following day.
Italy:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Gianluca Mancini (Roma)
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma)
Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio)
