Good evening, and welcome to Italy v Spain in the semi-finals of Euro 2020!

I was hoping Cesc Fabregas would be with BBC, but he's not. Instead, we get Jurgen Klinsmann, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer.

Tangentially, how good is this!

And for balance.

I thought I was looking forward to the match, then I remembered that before it we get the Italian national anthem.

I'm watching radio coverage, which is a weird thing to say but no less true for that. For some reason BBC1 are only giving us half an hour of chatter, but 5 live are away and we're allowed pictures of the teams warming up. Naturally, the conversation is about England; of course it is.

Looking back at the teams, my guess is that Italy will look to get in behind Spain's full-backs, while outrunning them in midfield and stopping their defenders from playing out. Spain, meanwhile, will look to keep the ball, draw Italy onto them, and then move the ball into the spaces. I strongly fancy Italy, but it's easy to see how Spain pull it off.

This is just one example of why.

Some thoughts on England, Jadon Sancho, Gareth Southgate and what this England team mean.

I mean, I know Italians - and Roberto Mancini in particular - are famous for their style. But those blazers are an absolute debacle, I'm afraid.

The absolute state of thiese rigs.

Luis Enrique will have very particular memories of tournament football against Italy.

I guess it's slightly surprising that Morata's been left out at this point, because he'd already made the case in the group stages and stayed in, and slightly surprising again that he's replaced by Oyarzabal, not Gerald Moreno. But whoever Spain play in that position is a punt - though I'd be interested in seeing Ferran Torres have a go, with Adama Traore on the wing. Enrique, though, doesn't seem much enamoured of the Wolves winger.

On the other hand, Lucho Enrique, the Spain manager, loves a surprise selection, and he makes three alterations. At the back, Eric Garcia - who replaced Pau Torres against Switzerland - keeps his place, while at left-wing and centre-forward, Pablo Sarabia and Alvaro Morata drop out, with Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal coming in.

I really, really hope the injury heals well - an achilles is one of the worst things to hurt and the effect it had on Neil Webb scarred my childhood. But treatment and rehab has changed a lot since then, so hopefully he comes back quickly, as good as new.

Roberto Mancini makes one change to the team which beat Belgium, and it's an enforced one: Leonardo Spinazzola, one of the tournaments best, funnest and most influential players, ruptured his achilles in that game, so is replaced by Emerson.

So what does it all mean?

Let's have some teams....

Now this is a match, one of the classics of international football, that needs no introduction whatsoever. Italy versus Spain! In a tournament semi-final! What else is to say, apart from "Expletive YES!"?

Well, plenty. For years - and after winning the first major meeting between the sides - Spain got nowhere in the rivalry, beaten in the 1928 Olympics, at the 1934 World Cup, the 1988 Euros and the 1994 World Cup. But then Spain got good, knocking Italy out of the 2008 Euros en route to their first significant trophy, rinsing them 4-0 in the 2012 final - having won a World Cup in between - then helping them miss the 2018 edition. There is previous.

But tonight is about the now, and these countries have reached this stage in very different ways. In the groups, Italy were the most impressive team by far, and in the knockouts they've proved that the cohesive and vicious style - one which has seen them go undefeated for two years - is good enough to beat the best when it matters.

Spain, on the other hand, have been straight up weird. In their first two games, they scored just once and in both of their next two they scored five, then spurned numerous chances to see off Switzerland before sneaking one of the all-time worst penalty shoot-outs.

All of which suggests that Italy should cruise this - and they might. But Spain have also played really well in periods, and their midfield, perhaps the best in the tournament, will ensure they have plenty of the ball. As such, they've a decent chance of winning if their finishing is anything better than laughable, but in Italy meet an opponent that is anything but. Ooh yeah!