Speaking ahead of Italy’s Euro 2020 opener against Turkey on Friday, right-back Alessandro Florenzi previewed the competition ahead, picking out his club teammate Kylian Mbappé as the strongest player in the tournament. His words transcribed in Sky Sport, the Paris Saint-Germain man also talked about the prospect of returning to play at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, having not played for Roma since January 2020.
“It’ll be very emotional, I’m returning to a stadium that has given me so much and seen me grow. Hopefully we can get a good win to start our journey off well. The fans will be back, even though there will be less than the full capacity it will still be a special game.”
“[The best player will be] Mbappé, I’ve played with him all year. How do you stop him? As a team. He’s the best at the Euros, maybe even in the world. In training, sometimes I didn’t manage to stop him, other times I did. Even on the Playstation he’s hard to stop.”
“I feel better than at Euro 2016, and by a lot. I also have more experience. It’s been a useful year for me and many others in the national team, we’ve played important international games, looking at Roma or Inter who despite their elimination from the Champions League played well. We’ve trained more, we know more and I think that shows on the pitch.”
