Barella praises former Spain midfielders ahead of Euro 2020 clash

Italy

will face

Spain

in the semi-final on Tuesday evening. Despite seemingly being a weaker opponent this time around, Spain won two European Championships and a World Cup between 2008 and 2012.

Italy booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over

Belgium

thanks to goals from

Nicolo Barella

and

Lorenzo Insigne

. The key to their victory could be found in the center of the pitch where

Roberto Mancini

has built a midfield unit comparable to the one that was so successful for Spain a decade ago.

Barella

admired Barcelona‘s duo

Xavi

and

Andres Iniesta

and said they have set the standard for all modern midfielders.

“Spain had great champions who inspired us all, such as Xavi and Iniesta”,

as per reports from

.

“It is easy to say they inspired us (midfielders), but they inspired all those who love football.

“I have different characteristics to my game, but I have great respect for them.

“Sergio Busquets has also been among the best in the world for years, in both Spain and Barcelona. You just have to congratulate him for that, and now they also have Pedri and Koke.”

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