Italy have achieved the third-place finish in the UEFA Nations League after defeating Belgium 2-1 today. The European Champions, as well as their opponents had several rotations with both teams resting their key players from the game before.
Both teams went into the break at 0-0, and the second half brought about all the goals in the game. The first goal came from a corner situation in the second period, as the ball fell to Nicolo Barella, who smashed the ball into the net from well outside the box. Thibaut Courtois dived but the crowd played a part in obstructing his vision and conceding the goal.
Shortly after, Italy were awarded a penalty after Timothy Castagne tackled Federico Chiesa from behind. Toby Alderweireld was furious with the decision and was booked for throwing the ball out of rage. After the chaos was sorted, Domenico Berardi scored for the Azzurri.
Courtois dived the right way, and got a hand to the ball, but it ricocheted off of his hand into the top of the net as the Italians doubled their lead shortly after the hour mark.
In the 86th minute, 20-year-old substitute Charles de Ketelaere gave Belgium a fighting chance in the game as he slotted the ball between the feet of Gianluigi Donnarumma to make it 2-1.
But despite there being 8 minutes left, Belgium could not muster up another chance to score and ended up losing to Italy yet again.
