Italy manager Roberto Mancini says his side will be up against an ‘excellent’ Austrian side, in Saturday’s round of 16 tie in Wembley.
Italy top Group A with three wins, with Austria advancing second in Group C after a win over Ukraine, bouncing back from losing to the Netherlands.
Mancini’s men are seeking a 12th consecutive win with a clean sheet to advance to the quarter-finals in Munich and keep on track for a return to London for the semi-finals and final.
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And ahead of Saturday’s encounter, the former Manchester City Boss said:”Austria are an excellent side.
“They have some skilful technical players, they’re an aggressive side. They can also knock you off your game because they can press you very well. We need to be ready for all of that.
“It’s certainly a game where there’s no margin for error. There was a bit of scope for mistakes in previous matches but there’s not in this.
“But that’s what so great about these tournaments, the adrenaline effect, you have to win there’s no other option.”
Mancini howwver warned Italy were relaxed and ready to pull out another big performance in “the temple of football” at Wembley against Austria.
“When you play football you can only wish to play in stadiums like this. A temple of football like Wembley you have to respect it and produce a big performance and I’m sure the lads will tomorrow night,” said the former Manchester City manager.
“It will be up to us to return (for semi-finals and final).”
Mancini made eight changes to his side in their last game against Wales and admitted he now had a “selection headache”.
“They’ve all played very well,” he said.
“It’s great to be able to count on the players who are all fit and firing and they’re all fairly relaxed from a mental perspective, so I think that could be an advantage for us.”
