MILAN (Reuters) - Spain ended European champions Italy’s world record 37-match unbeaten run as Ferran Torres scored twice in a 2-1 win at the San Siro stadium in an entertaining Nations League semifinal.
Italy, trailing by two goals at the break, had to play the entire second half with 10 men after captain Leonardo Bonucci was sent off but showed real determination as they sought to avoid their first loss since a September, 2018 defeat by Portugal.
“This matches are like, sometimes certain episodes can influence them,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini said.
“This is a disappointment. We should have stayed with 11 men, we made a mistake that you can’t make at this level,” he added.
Spain will face the winners of Thursday’s semi-final between France and Belgium in Sunday’s decider.
Torres put Spain ahead in the 17th minute, steering a left-wing cross from Mikel Oyarzabal past Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner.
Donnarumma, booed by AC Milan fans angered at his recent move from the club to Paris St Germain, nearly gifted Spain a second when he fumbled a harmless Marcos Alonso effort against the post but Bonucci scrambled the ball clear.
Any lingering questions about the importance of the match had been blown away by the blistering start and it was by no means one-way traffic, as Italy started to open up the Spanish defense.