Spalletti: ‘Italy could not have done more,’ takes blame off Pellegrini

Luciano Spalletti acknowledges that the red card significantly altered the course of Italy's 2-2 draw against Belgium, yet he partially absolves Lorenzo Pellegrini of responsibility for the incident, stating, "We could not have done more."

Italy began the match in an exemplary manner at the Stadio Olimpico, with Andrea Cambiaso scoring just 61 seconds in, followed shortly by Mateo Retegui's goal from a rebound off Cambiaso's initial shot.

However, despite the Azzurri appearing to dominate the game with a 2-0 lead, Pellegrini's reckless challenge on Arthur Theate resulted in a red card, leaving Italy with only ten players. This shift in momentum allowed Maxim De Cuyper and Leandro Trossard to level the score for Belgium.