The reporter reported coldlyAfter 12 years, Italy once again entered the group of death, along with Spain and Croatia. However, time has passed, and Italy, which was in Pot 2 that year, has now fallen to Pot 4. Although there are weak teams in the group such as Albania, and Spain and Croatia are not the strongest teams in their respective groups, the Italian media are still pessimistic about the prospects of the defending champions who have entered the "weakened group of death" in the European Championship. Italy has once again entered the "group of death" of the European Championship after 12 years, largely at its own fault. Although for Italy, the six favourites in Pot 1 cannot be avoided, but there is only a 1 3 probability of being in the same group as the Netherlands and Croatia in Pot 3. In the final round of the qualifying group stage, they only needed to beat Ukraine to move into Pot 3, but unfortunately in the end, the Italians failed to achieve the strategic goal of moving up, and the "Murphy's Law" was fulfilled again, and the Azzurri had to pay the price for their poor performance in qualifying. After missing out on two World Cups in a row and having failed to qualify for the European Championship this time, winning Euro 2021 was more of a surprise for Italy. "Milan Sport" admits that today's Italy is completely unable to compare with the top teams in Europe, even in the face of the aging World Cup runner-up Croatia, the same does not have the upper hand, Italy has played Croatia 8 times in its history, 5 draws and 3 defeats without a win, including 1-1 in the group stage of Euro 2012. As for Albania, although they are considered to be the weakest in the group, they have a number of main players who play in Serie A and are very familiar with Italy, and they are also not an opponent that Spalletti can easily deal with. 
This grouping also means that if Italy cannot guarantee a top-two finish in the group, even if they can win Albania, they may fall behind when compared to the third place in the other group - Italy are certainly concerned about the possible continuation of the curse of the reigning champions of the European Championship: after Spain successfully defended their title in 2012, the next three defending champions of the European Championship have all dropped out of the knockout round. Back in 1996, when the European Championship was expanded, the four defending champions Denmark, Germany and Greece stopped in the group stage, and France also stopped in the first round of knockouts. The only thing that Italy** and fans can console themselves with is that Italy, who entered the Group of Death 12 years ago, relied on beating Ireland, the weakest team in the group, to qualify. Then relied on tenacious defense to eliminate England and Germany in a row to enter the final, but was swept 4-0 by Spain at its peak. But history is only in the past, "Milan Sports Newspaper" analysis: if Italy qualifies in the 3rd place in the best group, it will meet Group E or Group F 1st in the 1 8 finals, which is likely to be Belgium and Portugal; If the second place in the group qualifies, even if the 1 8 finals are cleared, the 1 4 finals may meet England, which defeated Italy twice this year, and the 1 4 finals may meet the host Germany, and the top 8 may be the most realistic upper limit for the defending champions. This is the fifth time since 2000 that the Group of Death has been drawn at the European Championships, and the second time that the Group of Death has been drawn for two consecutive editions. Last time, France and Germany were in the same group as defending champions Portugal in Group F, and although all three teams reached the knockout round like the top three of the Group of Death in 2012, they all reached the round of 16. In the 2008 Group of Death (Italy, France and the Netherlands were in Group C), the Netherlands and Italy also stopped out of the first knockout round, and Italy also lost to Spain on penalties. Euro 2000 was in the group of death (Germany, England and Portugal in the same group), with the former two exiting the group stage together. In contrast, the 2012 Group of Death was significantly more golden, with Spain and Italy in the same group meeting in the final. 
Last year's "semi-hosts" England had excellent luck, playing 6 of their 7 games on London soil, only to lose to Italy on penalties in the final. This time, the host German team is naturally also signed, and it is in the same group as Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland, three second- and third-rate teams in Europe, which is worthy of the "sincerity" of coach Nagelsmann who rushed from Munich to Hamburg in the snow. England also had good signings, joining Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia in the same second- and third-tier teams. Southgate has received such a good signing, I am afraid that the pressure to win the championship will be greater than that of the "semi-host". The Netherlands and France are in the same group again after 2000 and 2008, but with the same time passing. In 2000, the Netherlands entered the top 4 and France won the championship; France are still favourites to win the title, while the Netherlands are worried about qualifying from the group. After all, it is likely that Poland led by Lewandowski will enter Group D from the play-offs, and the strength is not weak. The other teams that qualify for the two-word play-offs are likely to be Ukraine and Georgia, but both teams are third-tier in Europe and cannot compete with Belgium and Portugal. After the group draw, the favourites for the European Championship remain England and France tied for first place (450), the host Germany ranked 3rd (700), Spain and Portugal followed, and Belgium 6th (1500), defending champions Italy and the Netherlands tied for 7th (1700）。Compared with before the draw, only Belgium has risen in the rankings, and Italy, who are in the group of death, have not changed, which shows that the outside world is still not optimistic about the defending champions. Who will be the dark horse at next year's European Championships? Denmark and Croatia are generally favoured, with the two teams ranked 9th and 10th respectively in odds to win the title, opening up a gap between the rest of the team. 