Manuel Locatelli bagged a brace of goals for the first time in his career as imperious Italy defeated Switzerland 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday to become the first side into the last-16 of Euro 2020.
Italy are back and they have a point to prove.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "This is Paris," Messi beamed and waved at scores of fans who had come to greet him at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital after his flight from Barcelona.
Hungary condemn England to worst home defeat since 1928
Italy's ability to get over the line in by far their biggest challenge of the Euros so far has made many people on the peninsula more convinced than ever of their ability to go on and win it on Sunday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Italy will face the runners-up of Group C next in London on June 26, while Wales will take on the runners-up of Group B on the same day in Amsterdam.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
AC Milan grabbed a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the blockbuster Europa League last-16 first-leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Inter Milan got a crucial 1-0 win at Juventus on Sunday
Images from football matches played in La Liga and Serie A in Spain and Italy on Wednesday.
PSG made hard work of beating Strasbourg 4-2 in the French Ligue 1, while Real Madrid registered a comfortable 4-1 win away to Alaves in their opening game.
Four-times winners Germany enjoyed a 3-0 win over Group J rivals Iceland
Coach Roberto Mancini made eight changes to the starting line-up from the team which lost 1-0 to Portugal in the Nations League in their last outing where he in turn had made nine changes from the previous game.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Round-up of football matches played around Europe on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Brescia left Mario Balotelli on the bench after coach Fabio Grosso said the maverick striker had not put in enough effort in training during the week.
Ronaldo's replacement Dybala scored in the 77th minute with a goal the Portuguese would have been proud of. After a quick exchange of passes, the Argentine twisted past Alessio Romagnoli and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a right foot shot.
Portugal rested Cristiano Ronaldo and still overcame new-look Italy 1-0 in their opening Nations League match on Monday, giving visiting coach Roberto Mancini plenty to think about. Forward Andre Silva scored three minutes after halftime in the League A Group 3 game to give the Portuguese their first win over Italy in a competitive match since 1957.
Milan replaced Gennaro Gattuso with former Sampdoria coach Giampaolo during the close season in a bid to improve on last season's fifth place and to take them back to the Champions League.
Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic scored with almost the last kick of the game to snatch a 2-2 draw against AC Milan in Serie A under new coach Stefano Pioli after their neighbours twice led through Suso in Sunday's derby. Perisic turned the ball in at the far post to spare the blushes of his captain Mauro Icardi who had missed two simple chances which could have changed the course of the game. Antonio Candreva also scored a spectacular goal for Inter who made an encouraging start after Pioli was appointed last week with Frank de Boer having been fired after 85 days.
Images from Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Giacomo Bonaventura's free kick earned Milan a 1-0 win over Pescara to move them into the top three of Serie A on Sunday.
Images from football matches played in Europe on Friday.
Balotelli made his debut for his hometown club after completing a four-match suspension that he was handed at Olympique de Marseille last season, while the visitors were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he recovers from injury.
Soccer highlights from across the globe.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Napoli brush aside lowly Crotone to go third in Serie A.
A stunning strike by Romelu Lukaku gave Inter Milan a 2-1 win at Brescia on Tuesday although they had to cling on for three points in the face of heavy pressure from the promoted side.
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
Manchester United beat AC Milan 5-4 on penalties after their International Champions Cup match in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ended 2-2 in regulation time on Saturday.
Barcelona finally made a statement of intent in what has been a chaotic season as they came from behind to beat La Liga leaders Real Sociedad 2-1 at home on Wednesday.
Karim Benzema scored his sixth goal in four games as Real Madrid beat Alaves 3-0 on Sunday for a fourth successive La Liga victory which took the European champions to within eight points of leaders Barcelona.
Arsenal named a strong side captained by Mesut Ozil while Real had Bale on the bench and Eden Hazard, wearing the number 50 shirt, starting alongside fellow new signing Luka Jovic in attack.
Although Spurs always looked more comfortable on the ball it was Sean Dyche's side, who have just a point from their opening five games, who had come the closest.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field