Italy coach Spalletti blames fitness for Euros defeat to Spain

The Azzurri were beaten 1-0 on Thursday night.

Spalletti later said: "The difference was made by the freshness, they were much fresher than us who had different readings.

"The key to the problem is always the same, we were below the level to accompany and return on back passes, they were fresher and created problems for us in terms of the speed of the choices.

"When we played with three or four fresher players we were able to be more intense, creating moves that could have led us to equalise, but they were much stronger than us and deservedly won."

Italy now need a result against Croatia to reach the final 16.

Spalletti added: "It will depend on how we get there, based on the choices we have: if we don't have choices it becomes difficult."