Italy 2-0 Spain, Uefa Euro 2016: Chiellini and Pelle goals set up Germany quarter-final clash

A masterclass from Italy, who will now face world champions Germany in Bordeaux on Saturday night. They will believe that they can go all the way after that performance.

That is it from me, but you can join my IBTimes UK colleague Tony Mogan for live coverage of England vs Iceland from Nice. Goodnight.

Full-time

Italy 2-0 Spain

Chiellini screeches in pain after being caught by Silva in the corner. Yellow card.

Game, set and match Italy. Spain push everyone forward in search of a leveller and predictably get caught on the counter. The ball is switched out to Darmian on the right and his low pass deflects up off Ramos before being firmly dispatched on the volley by Pelle.

A jubilant Conte celebrates by mounting the dugout. He certainly doesn't lack passion, does he?

Goal: Italy 2-0 Spain (Graziano Pelle)

Motta clearly catches Vazquez in the face in an off-the-ball incident. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is booked and will now miss the quarter-finals if Italy hold on. It could have been red.

Superb save from Buffon to deny Pique. Just brilliant from the Juventus stalwart.

Silva's attempted cross flicks off Barzagli's boot and Pedro is unable to connect at the back post. The Chelsea forward, who has admitted that he would like to return to Barcelona and is also unhappy with his lack of regular playing time for Spain, then fires wildly into row z.

The pressure keeps building on Italy before Darmian wins a free-kick in his own box. Four minutes of added time signalled.

Conte's final change sees Darmian replace Florenzi. Insigne tests De Gea with a hopeful shot that is parried.

Eder is still buzzing around and making himself a nuisance, but a pass from Parolo is overhit and an increasingly rare Italy attack breaks down.

Aduriz, who only came on at half-time, has failed to shake off that earlier blow and is replaced by Pedro.

Eder makes way for Insigne with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Spain are dominating proceedings now as a tired Italy begin to retreat further and further towards their own goal. Buffon is called into action twice, first beating away a powerful volley from Iniesta before denying Pique with a flying save.

Fabregas tees up Vazquez with a clever through ball and the Real Madrid winger knocks it against the post. He is rightly flagged offside before moving for the rebound.

Another ball in towards Aduriz is bravely punched clear by Buffon. The Spanish win a corner from which a leaping Ramos heads over.

Fabregas is then lucky to avoid a caution for a foul on Pelle. He of course thinks he is the innocent party.

Spain piece together an intricate passing move. Iniesta provides a skillful dummy and Aduriz bends a shot just wide of the post. Much better.

Lucas Vazquez replaces Morata in Del Bosque's second change.

Spain build pressure on the edge of the penalty area. Iniesta looks for a swift give and go but is stopped in his tracks by Chiellini.

25 minutes plus stoppage time remaining for Del Bosque's side to find that elusive equaliser.

Italy break forward in numbers and Pelle, who has been fantastic so far, links the play nicely once more. He feeds Giaccherini, but the Sunderland outcast's return ball is straight into the arms of De Gea.

Substitute Aduriz takes a hefty tumble after heading over the crossbar. Pique then blatantly flattens Eder but the referee decides to play a non-existent advantage.

What a dreadful decision.

De Gea to the rescue yet again for La Roja. A lovely Pelle flick sends Eder scampering through, but the Manchester United goalkeeper stand firms to make another impressive save.

Fabregas sees his shoulder lightly brushed by the hand of Pelle during an aerial challenge. He goes down holding his face and referee Cakir buys the theatrics and produces a yellow card.

Spain turn the screw with another attacking free-kick but Chiellini manages to deflect the ball clear.

De Rossi, who may have picked up a knock, goes off to be replaced by Motta. That's a blow for Conte.

Morata hits the deck claiming to have been blocked off by Barzagli on the corner of the Italian box. Nothing given.

Silva curls in a left-footed free-kick that De Rossi heads behind for a corner. Fabregas then picks out Morata, whose close-range header is straight at Buffon.

He should have scored.

Italy begin the second half on the front foot. Pique has to stretch to cut out Florenzi's low cross and an early corner is just about hacked clear.

Stern disciplinarian Conte is a hard taskmaster, but even he should be delighted with that impressive first half from Italy. His intelligent team have been tactically flawless and continue to nullify all of Spain's potent attacking threats.

Only De Gea has prevented this from being a more comprehensive half-time lead. Unless Del Bosque changes something quickly, then the defending champions are heading home before the quarter-finals.

Half-time

Italy 1-0 Spain

What a move from the Italians. After De Rossi coolly nutmegs Iniesta, they break clear of the Spanish press which has consistently been one step behind during this first half.

Giaccherini cuts in from the left and bends a cracking shot that is tipped over wonderfully by De Gea. An incisive attack denied by a super save.

One minute of added time signalled.

Parolo leads another Italy charge. With Giaccherini and Eder in space to his left, he elects to find Florenzi and his cross is too close to De Gea.

Spain are unusually short of a spark here. It is not often that they are found wanting in terms of ingenuity and chances.

Nolito catches De Rossi on the top of the boot and joins De Sciglio in the referee's notebook.

Bonucci inadvertently concedes a corner but a surprisingly sprightly 38-year-old Buffon, who is winning his 160th cap here, remains alert to punch Nolito's delivery clear.

A reminder that is the first goal that Spain have conceded in a knockout tie at the European Championship since Youri Djorkaeff scored in the quarter-finals of Euro 2000.

Eder's powerful low effort is parried by De Gea, who appears to trip Giaccherini as he attempts to turn home the rebound. There is no need for a penalty, however, as Chiellini bundles in from close range instead despite the best efforts of Pique.

Italy fully merit this first-half lead.

Goal: Italy 1-0 Spain (Giorgio Chiellini)

Pelle receives the ball to feet but is foolishly brought down by Ramos as he attempts to turn on the edge of the box. Good free-kick position for Italy.

De Sciglio produces a low cross towards Pelle that Ramos almost slices into his own net. That was close.

Italy force successive corners but they come to nothing when De Rossi is penalised for the latest bout of shirt pulling.

It's like the Wild West at set-pieces here.

Alba wins a corner for Spain. Nolito finds Iniesta, whose ambitious drive from distance clips De Rossi and is easily gathered by Buffon.

De Sciglio is cautioned for his own shirt tug. Moments later, Chiellini intercepts a pass from Iniesta on the edge of his own penalty area and swiftly launches a menacing counter-attack.

It ends with a left-wing cross from De Sciglio that Parolo glances wide of De Gea's left-hand post. Still goalless after 25 minutes.

These wily Italian centre-backs are well versed in the dark arts of set-piece defending and Chiellini gets away with a blatant shirt pull on Ramos at the back post. That could easily have been a penalty but the referee is not convinced.

Florenzi is clearly aiming to cause a variety of problems for Spain in bombing forward from that right wing-back position. However, he is just unable to capitalise on Chiellini's searching pass.

Spain then look to create their first opportunity of the afternoon as Nolito picks out Fabregas. The Chelsea midfielder's strike is blocked by a committed block from De Sciglio.

Spain are yet to get going as Silva tries to float a lofted pass beyond Florenzi and into the path of Alba. The ball skids off the soggy turf and hurtles out of play.

Italy have been much the better side during this opening 10 minutes. Florenzi scoops another inviting cross into the box and Giaccherini meets the flick-on with a sumptuous bicycle kick that is pushed against the post by De Gea.

The referee somewhat harshly blows for a high foot.

Juanfran steps across Eder and concedes a free-kick in a dangerous area. Florenzi provides a brilliant delivery that is headed firmly towards goal by Pelle.

The Southampton striker, who easily brushed aside Sergio Busquets, is denied by a wonderful one-handed stop from De Gea.

Iniesta directs the traffic for Spain and Nolito makes headway down the left-hand side before stumbling on his way into the penalty area. Such a heavy burst of rain is making the pitch very slippery indeed.

At the other end, Italy move the ball quickly and with purpose. Eder's shot is deflected safely into the arms of De Gea by Sergio Ramos.

The first whistle has been greeted with teeming rain in Saint-Denis. De Sciglio poses an early threat with a low cross that is confidently dealt with by De Gea.

Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir gets us underway. Italy are kicking from left to right in their traditional blue home strips. Spain are donning their white away kit which features a rather divisive red and yellow triangular pattern across the front.

With the national anthems complete, we are just moments away from kick-off now. Italy's Il Canto degli Italiani is a personal favourite of mine, I must say.

Those of you who have followed any of my live blogs at Euro 2016 to date will be well aware of my fondness for colourful pre-match shots of fans soaking up the tournament atmosphere in various states of fancy dress. Let's see what we've got so far today...

Del Bosque, meanwhile, concedes that Italy were unlucky not to beat his team in that Euro 2012 opener. With such a strong squad at his disposal, many have been surprised that the former Real Madrid stalwart has elected not to rotate any part of his starting XI.

In the last European Championship, our first game was against Italy. They were better than us, but we drew and then we ended up beating none other than Italy in the final. We hardly changed anything in between those two matches, although coaches do obviously have to have a bit of flexibility so they can make changes at any given moment.

I think we've got a good idea about how we want to play in relation to the players we've called up, and now it's about putting it into practice.

Conte, who takes charge of his first knockout match with Italy today, has dismissed focus upon the Azzurri's miserly defence and backed his side to pose a real attacking threat at the Stade de France.

We have a great deal of respect for Spain: they are one of the best teams in the world and among the favourites to win Euro 2016. Even so, we've worked and prepared, and it's a last-16 game which will have no tomorrow for one of us. We must not have any regrets.

Everybody talks about defence, about being wary of all their players, but I say let's make sure Spain are wary of what we do. There is organisation in our defence, but there is also organisation in our attack. We've got to try to pull off a shock.

I don't want to go home, the lads don't want to go home. We're not going to be sacrificial lambs – it is up to Spain to prove they are better than us.

A couple of ominous pre-game statistics for Italy here. They have won only one of their last 11 matches against Spain, losing four and drawing six.

Italy revert to their strongest XI, with seasoned captain Buffon back between the sticks in place of Salvatore Sirigu. Giorgio Chiellini regains his rightful spot alongside fellow centre-back stalwarts Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci as Angelo Ogbonna makes way.

Marco Parolo, De Rossi, Giaccherini, Eder and Pelle all return, while Federico Bernardeschi, Stefano Sturaro, Thiago Motta, Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile all return to the bench.

Mattia De Sciglio of AC Milan is preferred to Manchester United's Matteo Darmian and Alessandro Florenzi starts as the right wing-back in a 3-5-2 system with Antonio Candreva suffering from a thigh injury.

For the fourth game in a row at these finals, Spain are unchanged. Morata will lead the line with support from Manchester City target Nolito and David Silva, one of the goal-scorers in that Euro 2012 final hammering, on either side.

Spain XI to face Italy: De Gea, Juanfran, Pique, Ramos, Alba, Busquets, Fabregas, Iniesta, Silva, Morata, Nolito

Italy XI to face Spain: Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Florenzi, Parolo, De Rossi, Giaccherini, De Sciglio, Eder, Pelle

Team news to come very shortly. Stay right there...

Spain began their pursuit of a third consecutive European crown by dominating the Czech Republic in Toulouse, but only sealed victory thanks to an 87th-minute header from Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique.

Alvaro Morata's brace and an effort from Nolito helped them be far more clinical against woeful Turkey, although they eventually finished second in Group D following a disappointing defeat to an under-strength Croatia.

Striker Morata, who recently left Juventus after Real Madrid exercised their buy-back option, gave them an early lead in the match but Nikola Kalinic equalised on the stroke of half-time and David de Gea allowed Ivan Perisic's deflected shot to squeeze inside his near post with only three minutes remaining.

In the evergreen Andres Iniesta, Vincente del Bosque possesses one of the top performers of Euro 2016 to date.

So how did they get here?

Italy's current squad was derided as one of their worst in recent memory before Euro 2016 even began, but Chelsea-bound coach Antonio Conte has defied those incessantly gloomy pre-tournament predictions by fashioning a well-drilled and committed side finely skilled in the art of cynical Italian defending.

They produced one of the best team performances of the tournament so far against fancied Belgium in Lyon, with Emanuele Giaccherini and Graziano Pelle both notching brilliant goals. Their second outing against Sweden was less than impressive but a confident last-gasp strike from Eder was enough to secure their progress as Group E winners.

With qualification and top spot already guaranteed, Conte made sweeping changes for the final group match against the Republic of Ireland. The result was a thoroughly disjointed performance and a 1-0 defeat courtesy of Robbie Brady's late header.

Italy and Spain also met in the group stages four years ago of course, when the latter began the defence of their title with a 1-1 draw after Cesc Fabregas' goal quickly cancelled out an opener from Antonio Di Natale.

In 2008, the two sides played out a goalless draw in the quarter-finals before Spain advanced via the lottery of penalties. Fabregas again played an important role, netting the winning spot-kick after Iker Casillas had saved efforts from Daniele De Rossi and Di Natale. Daniel Guiza had his attempt thwarted by Gianluigi Buffon.

They also drew 0-0 in the group stages at Euro 80, while Italy won 1-0 eight years later courtesy of a goal from Gianluca Vialli. Their most recent meeting came in a friendly in March of this year, when Lorenzo Insigne gave the hosts a second-half lead in Udine. Spain snatched a draw thanks to a first international goal from Athletic Bilbao veteran Aritz Aduriz.

The established theory that familiarity breeds contempt will be sorely tested at the Stade de France this afternoon as Italy face reigning European champions Spain for the right to meet World Cup winners Germany in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

This is the most played fixture in the history of the European Championships and few fans of either country will ever forget their last meeting at a major tournament, when a vintage La Roja side made history and further established themselves as the greatest international team of all time with a scarily dominant 4-0 destruction of the Azzurri in the Euro 2012 final in Kiev.

Stay tuned to IBTimes UK for breaking team news, confirmed line-ups and live updates from the most hotly-anticipated tie of the round. Live updates will follow after kick-off at 17.00 BST.