Group C is gathered, the runners-up of the last European Championship Spain, Ireland, Croatia and Italy, the overall strength is basically clear, but the strength of Ireland and Croatia cannot be ignored, these two teams are also used to playing the role of strong team killers in the game.

Spain, as the runner-up of the last European Championship, is undoubtedly one of the biggest favorites to win the championship in this European Cup, and the style of play with the Barcelona system as the core has made many teams feel inexplicable, but the incompleteness of the lineup, coupled with excessive pressure from the outside world, may become a burden for the defending champions.

Compared with the Spanish team that won the European Championship runners-up four years ago, this time the European Championship is missing Villa and Puyol due to injury, as well as the aging Marchena and Capdevilla, Negredo, Cazorla, Juan Fran and Alba have become the new blood of the defending champions, and the most regrettable thing is the failure of the talented teenager Adrian and the efficient killer Soldado.

Goalkeeper needless to say, the 31-year-old captain Casillas is in his prime, and no goalkeeper can be more stable than him, the back line due to the lack of Puyol, a big blow to Spain, the hot-tempered Ramos and the flamboyant and exposed Pique have always looked at each other unpleasantly, they partner in the central defender, it is definitely a time bomb for the Spanish defense, from a technical point of view, whether it is the insertion of assists or the instability of the skin, it is very much necessary for Puyol to be good at filling and extremely stable teammates.

Although the right wing-back Arbeloa has been active in assisting, the quality and efficiency are not at all as good as when Ramos played at right-back, and Valencia youngster Alba, who has been in great form recently, almost sat in the left-back position.

The midfield has not changed much from the World Cup, and in Bosque's 4231 system, Alonso and Busquets are expected to form a double midfielder, the former is responsible for organizing the team's attack, and the latter plays a role in intercepting and controlling the team's attacking and defensive rhythm in the midfield.

The starting midfield trident, Silva, Iniesta and Xavi are the favorites, Fabregas, Martinez, Cazorla, Mata, Navas and others provide a wealth of options for Bosque's rotation adjustment, even if Bosque adopts Barcelona's 433 strikerless tactics commonly used this season, Silva, Iniesta, Xiaofa and others can also complete the task well, and the luxurious midfield almost ensures the super competitiveness of the Spanish team.

Up front, despite Villa's efforts to recover, they missed, with the selections of Negredo and Llorente being beyond reproach in terms of form and style, and Torres' selection caused many fans to be dissatisfied, and Torres' performance at Chelsea this season has been nothing short of a disaster, as the abandonment of Adrian, who has been eye-catching lately, and Soldado, a high-performance goalscorer in the league, has left some fans unacceptable.

Although the talented Spanish team is full of talent, but the absolute core of the team is undoubtedly Xavi, Bosque's team has basically transplanted Barcelona's control flow play tactically, Xavi is undoubtedly the key figure in Spain's control of the game, especially on the offensive end, Xavi's scheduling will be the key to Spain's success.

In this group, Spain's biggest rival is Italy, the Italian team has always been the favorite to win the tournament, but the situation in Italy in this European Cup is really not optimistic, the domestic gambling scandal broke out, the team is bleak, this team is in the replacement of the old and new Italy can create a miracle, most people are not optimistic.

After the World Cup in South Africa, Prandelli, who retired after success in Fiorentina, became the head coach of the Italian national team.

There are many "regrets" in the squad of this Italian team, Pazzini, Ranocchia and others, who could have been the main candidates, were not selected due to Fiorentina's poor performance this season, and the main left-back Crischito was removed from the squad due to "gambling" before the start of the game.

Fortunately, Cassano made a miraculous recovery, and he was thought to be ironclad, and he caught the last train of the European Cup, which is already a young team compared to the previous Italian team, so many players lack experience in the national team competition.

Another shortcoming is Italy's impact, but with Cassano, Pirlo, Giovinco and others in charge, the abundance of creativity may make up for the rest.

The first opponent in the group stage is Spain, and it is not easy for the Azzurri to get three points, but it should also cause more trouble for the opponent. The key lies in the game against Croatia, now the talented Croatia will naturally form a big threat to the Italian team, if you want to make a difference in this life-and-death battle, you must strengthen the hardness of the midfield scramble, take the initiative to press the technology as the main opponent, Ireland has the strength to disrupt the game, but the absolute strength, especially the lack of offensive ability, determines that it is difficult for them to stand out from the encirclement, and the ability to attack them is the key. Therefore, it is not difficult to qualify from the group.

It was the match-fixing case before the tournament, which couldn't help but remind everyone of the summer of 2006, I hope Italy can still stage the 2006 back-to-back battle, the miracle of winning the championship under heavy pressure, another major attraction is Ba Shen, as long as he is there, it will always be a highlight, he is a genius on the field, and it is also a wonder on the field.

As the former world hegemon, Italy's prospects in this European Championship are not very promising, but in fact, Prandelli's team has a reasonable age structure, the old and the new are gradual, and the tactical style of play is also inherited, and the basic goal is to qualify from the group, and if they can reach the last four, they will have exceeded the task.

The World Cup winners of the tournament six years ago are now left with only Gianluigi Buffon, Barzagli, De Rossi and Andrea Pirlo, who are now the mainstays of the national team.

The team's tactical style of play, on-the-spot changes, and offensive and defensive transitions did not revolve around them at all. Just like six years ago, Gianluigi Buffon is a crucial part of Italy's ability to perform, not to mention that Buffon is also the spiritual leader of this team.

Andrea Pirlo is still in the same role as he was six years ago, and despite being six years older, "Sleepy" has been able to devote more of his energy to attacking thanks to the help of Marchisio, who has been able to assist him well beyond the level of previous seasons.

Balotelli is widely regarded as the starting striker, as evidenced by Prandelli's handing of the number nine shirt to him. In this tournament, Super Mario will have to try his best to control his temper, otherwise he will become the team's biggest problem from a core player.

The 4312 is the tactic currently used by Prandelli and the fixture in Italy in recent years, with the control of the midfield by the three central midfielders at the core, and of course it is also based on Pirlo's strong ability to read the game and organise. Flanked by De Rossi and Marchisio, they can both protect the central commander and frequently cut forward or assist team-mates to score goals or score goals themselves, while Motta and Nocerino are also key options in central midfield. It is not enough to have Pirlo's scheduling, the presence of Montolivo and Cassano has enriched the Italian team a lot in the attacking routines, including Pirlo and Montolivo's frequent changes in the No. 4 position, Cassano decisively retreated to the midfield to get the ball to activate the middle when he was restricted by the opponent, etc., all of which made this Italian team's offensive methods flexible.

If they want to go far in the European Championships, Italy will first be based on a solid defense, mainly penetrating with short passes in the middle, supplemented by the insertion of two wings to break through the opponent's defense, which is also the traditional style of play of Italy for many years.

The transfer from Pirlo's point of possession to the sides, the precise overhead pick and finish to the opponent's ribs, and the sharp and quick counter-attack were a great trick for Italy to tear apart the opposition defence.

The Italian national team has been at the top of Europe for 44 years, and winning the trophy as host in 1968 was the only time the Azzurri have lifted the Delaunay Cup to date.

In all fairness, Italy is not bad, Buffon, Chiellini, Pirlo, Balotelli, are all top stars in their respective positions, and Italy's poor performance in recent years has just made this team aggressive enough, and other teams are not big enemies against Italy.

In this sense, Italy will play in a low-key manner in this European Cup, and there may be unexpected results, of course, after all, the strength on the field is still the first, Italy's strength is obviously not as good as Spain, Germany, but it is enough to compete with England, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, etc.

Ireland, this is the Irish national team after 2002, after a decade on the stage of the tournament again, the Italian coach Trapattoni injected more Italian elements into this team with a traditional English style of play, most of the players in the Irish team play in the Premier League, so the overall strength is not bad, and there are many stars who have been famous for a long time.

Twenty-one of the 23-man squad are from English clubs, with only captain Keane and Spartak Moscow midfielder McGeddy coming from leagues outside England, and the list basically includes almost all of Ireland's current well-known stars, such as Given, Dunn, Duff, O'Shea, Keane, Gibson, etc.

There are famous players on all lines, in the goalkeeper position, the veteran Given, the defensive line, the former Manchester United star O'Shea can play the core, the central defender Dunn is the Premier League oolong, but he has many years of experience in the Premier League, Ireland's wings are Duff and McGgridy, the back is the "long-range shooting king" Gibson, and the veteran Robbie on the front line. Keane, as well as West Brom striker Sean, who has been doing well this season. Bright.

Ireland are in a relatively difficult group this tournament, with Spain as favourites, Italy under Prandelli as they are on winning ground, and Croatia with the same ambitions under young coach Bilic, so it will be difficult for Ireland to qualify.

The other team is the habitual dark horse Croatia, this cup, Croatia and Spain, Italy and Ireland in the same group, although the prospect of qualifying is not optimistic, but the advantage of the Plaid Army is that the opponent encountered from weak to strong, the first game will face the weakest Ireland in this group, Croatia is fully capable of winning. In the second game against Italy, Croatia also has a psychological advantage, if the first two games can be played well, Croatia does have the possibility of grabbing the right to qualify in this group, and it is not an impossible task to become a dark horse again.

The coach of the team, Bilic, in the 1998 World Cup, miraculously reached the semi-finals with the Croatian national team, after retiring from teaching in 2001, he briefly coached the Croatian domestic powerhouse Heiduksplitter, and since 2004, has coached the Croatian U21 national youth team and the senior national team.

In terms of squad, Degan's former team-mate Luka Modric will undoubtedly be the absolute heart of Croatia, and after leaving Fiorentina, Modric made a surprise choice to join the Premier League's mid-table Tottenham Hotspur, where he has performed very well in the last two seasons and was even nominated for World Footballer of the Year at the end of last year.

Another thing to watch is Srna, Shakhtar Donetsk, who captained the Croatian national team and whose international experience is second only to veteran defender Simunic. The all-rounder on the right side has been playing for Croatia since Euro 2004 and his 19 goals are the third highest in Croatia's all-time scoring charts, behind Sucker and Eduardo.

The final direction of this group depends mainly on how the strong teams can always play their best, and what kind of quality the dark horses have.

Relatively speaking, Spain's emergence should not be a problem, while Ireland are relatively weak and may only be able to play the role of spoiler, and another qualifier will be born between Italy and Croatia.

Although in terms of fame, Italy wants to stabilize Croatia, but in several international competitions, Croatia has an advantage, especially in the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup, Croatia's victory almost forced Italy to the point where it could not appear in the group.

This time, the two teams meet in the group stage, and who will have the last laugh will depend not only on the battle between the stars of the two teams on the pitch, but also on the way the coaches of the two teams fight on the sidelines.