Italy's latest attempt to be crowned UEFA Nations League champions for the first time will reach its conclusion this week, and they first tackle Spain in the semi-finals on Thursday.

The Azzurri are aiming to meet either the Netherlands or Croatia in Sunday's final, and coach Roberto Mancini trimmed his training squad by six players ahead of the trip to Enschede - Juventus duo Manuel Locatelli and Federico Gatti were among those no longer required.

In addition, Euro 2020 winners Matteo Pessina and Domenico Berardi have withdrawn due to injury, but Mancini still took an experienced group with him to the Netherlands.

Midfield pair Marco Verratti and Jorginho are into their thirties now and have endured plenty of criticism this season, but both join veteran defenders Francesco Acerbi and Leonardo Bonucci in representing La Nazionale once again.

At the other end of the age scale, a tough finish to Wilfried Gnonto's breakthrough campaign in the Premier League has not deterred Mancini from calling up the 19-year-old forward, who will also take part in this summer's European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Georgia and Romania. Meanwhile, Gnonto's teammates in the Azzurrini, Giorgio Scalvini and Sandro Tonali, have both been excluded from the senior squad.

After scoring against England and Malta in Euro 2024 qualifying, Mateo Retegui is in line for a third cap for his adopted nation: the Argentina-born striker accepted Italy's overtures earlier this year and has since made a big impact.

However, another member of the European Championship-winning side, Ciro Immobile, is now available after missing several chunks of the season with injury and could feature up front instead.

Either will start in Mancini's preferred 4-3-3 formation, which could feature as many as four of Inter's Champions League finalists, who must recover quickly after being beaten in Istanbul last weekend; however, Alessandro Bastoni will not feature due to illness.

Italy possible starting lineup: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Toloi, Acerbi, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Zaniolo, Immobile, Raspadori

> Click here to see how Spain could line up for their UEFA Nations League semi-final

Written by
Jonathan O'Shea