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Turkey national football team
European Championship | Group Stage
Jun 11, 2021 at 8pm UK
Stadio Olimpico
Italy national football team

Turkey
0 - 3
Italy


Soyuncu (88'), Dervisoglu (90')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Demiral (53' og.), Immobile (66'), Insigne (79')

How Turkey could line up against Italy

How Turkey could line up against Italy
© Reuters
Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Turkey could line up for Friday's Euro 2020 opener against Italy.

Turkey head into the opening game of this year's much-delayed European Championship with coach Senol Gunes set to lead an increasingly confident young side into the battle for continental glory.

Meeting one of the competition hosts, Italy, at Stadio Olimpico on Friday evening, the one-time World Cup semi-finalist will take a squad with an average age of just under 25 years - many of whom are yet to reach their peak - into almost certainly their toughest game of the group phase.

Gunes has prioritised instilling some substance into the Crescent-Stars defence, and can choose from Juventus prospect Merih Demiral, Leicester City's lynchpin Caglar Soyuncu, Liverpool loanee Ozan Kabak and Kaan Ayhan, of Serie A side Sassuolo, in the centre - though the former pair are expected to start.

Like Demiral and Ayhan, Milan playmaker and dead-ball wizard Hakan Calhanoglu is a regular in the Italian top flight, and has been the creative fulcrum in Turkey's midfield for several years. As he often prefers to cut in from the left, he may start out wide with license to roam, as the visitors set up in a probable 4-1-4-1 formation.

If a 3-4-3 is deployed, however, Ayhan could make the team sheet, but it is more likely that the XI which starts on Friday will closely correspond with that picked for the final warm-up match versus Moldova last week.

Now approaching veteran status, recent Ligue 1 winner Burak Yilmaz should again lead the line up front, with support from Calhanoglu and Yusuf Yazici.

Out wide, meanwhile, Roma winger Cengiz Under - returning to the Olimpico after a largely fruitless time in the Premier League last season - will compete with Kenan Karaman for a berth on the right, though Abdulkadir Omur is also an outside contender.

A successful West Bromwich Albion loan signing in January, deep-lying midfielder Okay Yokuslu is poised to start as the deepest man in the engine room, working alongside Ozan Tufan of Fenerbahce.

> Click here to see how Italy could line up for Friday's Euro 2020 opener

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How you voted: Turkey vs Italy

Turkey
20.8%
Draw
17.1%
Italy
62.1%
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Turkey's Kaan Ayhan celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on May 27, 2021
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Euro 2024 fixtures header
Sunday, June 16
 
5pm
 
8pm
Monday, June 17
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
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Tuesday, June 18
 
5pm
Wednesday, June 19
 
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Thursday, June 20
 
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8pm
Group Stage
Spain
vs.
Italy
Friday, June 21
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Saturday, June 22
 
5pm
 
8pm
Sunday, June 23
 
8pm
 
8pm
Monday, June 24
 
8pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, June 25
 
5pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
 
8pm
Wednesday, June 26
 
5pm
 
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Saturday, June 29
Sunday, June 30
Monday, July 1
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Friday, July 5
Saturday, July 6
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Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany11003
2 Switzerland Switzerland11003
3 Hungary Hungary10010
4 Scotland flag Scotland10010

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Spain Spain11003
2 Italy Italy11003
3 Albania national flag Albania10010
4 Croatia Croatia10010

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Denmark Denmark00000
2 England flag England00000
3 Serbia Serbia00000
4 Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Austria Austria00000
2 France France00000
3 Netherlands Netherlands00000
4 Poland Poland00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belgium Belgium00000
2 Romania Romania00000
3 Slovakia Slovakia00000
4 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Portugal Portugal00000
4 Turkey Turkey00000


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