A touch of EM magic: Despite a 0-0 draw, Ukraine and Italy fought a thrilling duel until injury time. Photo dpa Image: dpa
Although no goals are scored, the game in Leverkusen is a duel full of emotions: Italy is fighting against old fears of failure in the European Championship qualification, Ukraine is fighting for a sign of resistance against Putin.
The material for the next Italian tragedy was ready when the final minutes of Ukraine’s game against Squadra Azzurra began on Monday evening. The BayArena, which was almost completely full with around 6,000 Italians and significantly more Ukrainians, shook. The hopes of the many people who had fled the war back home to take part in the European Championship were mixed with the fear of the reigning European champions that they would fail to qualify again. Italy has already missed the 2018 and 2022 World Cups; the tournament in Qatar took place without the proud football nation due to a goal against North Macedonia in the second minute of added time. A trauma that was suddenly omnipresent.
The second minute of stoppage time was now underway when there was foot contact between Mychajlo Mudryk and Francesco Acerbi in the Italian penalty area, which the referees could have punished with a penalty whistle with good arguments. With a 1-0 win, the Ukrainians would have pushed Italy out of the direct qualification spot.
