Italy reveal 23 man squad

Antonio Conte has named his 23-man squad for the European Championships as the Azzurri begin their final preparation phase before travelling to France next week.

Seven players from the provisional squad were cut by Conte and among those players the most surprising decision made was to leave out Riccardo Montolivo.

The Azzurri are already weakened by the injuries to central midfielders Claudio Marchisio and Marco Verratti, while the task of replacing Andrea Pirlo remains a big challenge facing Conte and Italy in general. Montolivo is perhaps the most natural playmaking type player similar to Pirlo but now Conte must plan without his qualities. It means that Italy seem rather short in creative midfield options.

The other six players to be excluded were Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Daniele Rugani (Juventus), Marco Benassi (Torino), Davide Zappacosta (Torino), Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Napoli) and Giacomo Bonaventura (Milan). Rugani, Benassi and Zappacosta are on the stand-by list along with young Udinese goalkeeper Alex Meret.

Otherwise, the Italian squad certainly looks extremely reliable in defence, while it also looks as though Italy will go with a 3 man defence, flanked by two wing backs. With no outstanding striker in the team, there's potentially a spot for Southampton's Graziano Pellè to stake a claim for a starting berth in the team.

Even if this Italian team looks weak, they'll undoubtedly be a tough test for whoever they face. Italy has the winning mentality that many teams don't have, and that's what makes them a force to be reckoned with, while Conte will have the team well oiled and organised ahead of the tournament.

The Azzurri train all week at their training camp in Coverciano before playiing against Finland in Verona on Monday 6^th June.

Italy accompany Ireland in Group E along with Belgium and Sweden, and kick off their group campaign against Belgium on 13^th June, before playing Sweden four days later and finally Ireland on 22^nd June in Lille.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain).

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (West Ham).

Midfielders: Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus).

Forwards: Citadin Martins Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Graziano Pellè (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus).