Two major powerhouses of world football -- former World champions Italy and Spain -- will collide once again in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifier. The heavyweights last met in the Euro 2016, where the Azzurris prevailed over La Roja with 2-0.
This time around, the teams have different managers. For Italy, Antonio Conte was replaced by Giampiero Ventura after the European Championship, while Julen Lopetegui was appointed as the successor of the famed Vicente del Bosque for Spain.
Ventura started off his journey with Italy with a 3-1 defeat to France and 3-1 win over Israel in the next match, while Lopetegui guided his team to record a big win over Luxembourg.
Manchester United midfield star Ander Herrera has received a national team call for the first time and it remains to be seen whether he plays any part in the match for Spain. Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets, meanwhile, has mentioned that their team will go out to avenge the Euro 2016 loss against Italy.
"At the Euros we made some mistakes and now it is time for revenge," said Busquets in the pre-match press conference. "Qualification for the World Cup is at stake here. It is not a decisive match between the two teams, but it is important to fight for the top spot in the group and the fact these are the strongest sides in our section."
For the record, Italy has 15 wins over Spain in 44 football matches, while Spain has 12 wins.
Italy vs Spain schedule
Date: October 6
Time: 7:45 pm BST, 12:15 am IST [Friday]
Venue: Juventus Stadium, Turin
TV listings: Sony Six/HD (India), ITV 4 (UK), Fox Sports 1 (USA), RAI Uno (Italy), TVE La 1 (Spain).
