With less than three months until Euro 2016, the two teams who contested the competition's last final four years ago step up their preparations for this summer's tournament in France at Udinese's home, Stadio Friuli, as Italy host France in a friendly on Thursday.

Players from both sides will be eager to impress with squad selection for the finals looming.

Italy

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The Azzurri are back together for the first time since Antonio Conte confirmed that he would be leaving as manager after the Euros.

The ex-Juve boss is expected to take the job at Chelsea when Guus Hiddink's interim reign ends this summer and talk is already rife about who Conte may sign for the Stamford Bridge side, including former pupil Paul Pogba.

Conte will want to go out with a bang this summer, but it is a tough ask to emulate the Italian side of four years ago, who went unbeaten through the group stage, edged out England on penalties in the last eight and surprised Germany in the semis before eventually succumbing to the might of Spain in the Kiev final.

As of the latest FIFA rankings published earlier this month, Italy are 14th in the world, over 10 places behind their opponents tonight, despite a qualifying campaign which saw them finish as one of four teams – England, Austria and Romania being the others – to stay unbeaten throughout.

They just missed out on being a top seed for the group-stage draw so a tough quartet was always likely, but Conte's side have been dealt arguably the most difficult of the lot, with number-one ranked Belgium, the Republic of Ireland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden alongside them in Group E.

They come into this match without a win in two matches since their final qualifier, including a 3-1 defeat to Belgium which was, it turns out, a dress rehearsal for both nations' opening match in France on June 13.

Recent form: WWWWLD

Spain

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La Roja are not the dominant force of a few years ago, but Vicente del Bosque's side are still one of the favourites as they look to continue their remarkable European Championship record this summer.

Four years ago they matched Germany's total of three wins and became the first team to win the competition back to back by trouncing the Italians in the final.

Plenty of star names like Xavi Hernandez and David Villa no longer pull on the red shirt, but Del Bosque is still at the helm, although that may not be the case come the end of the tournament should the 65-year-old wish to call it a day.

Spain are third in the world rankings after showcasing their defensive resilience in qualifying. Early on their campaign was somewhat rocked by defeat to Slovakia, but they bounced back in style by winning eight in a row without conceding a single goal to top the group.

In their only friendly since qualification ended, Del Bosque's men showcased their threat to all others by seeing off England, the only team to qualify with a 100% record.

This summer in France, La Roja will face Croatia, Turkey and the Czech Republic in Group D.

Recent form: WWWWWW

Team News

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Chelsea frontman Diego Costa is not one of the six Premier League players in Del Bosque's current squad, so the attacking onus could therefore fall upon Juventus striker Alvaro Morata, who impressed recently against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and also netted a brace in the Turin derby.

Del Bosque may also take a look at Aritz Aduriz, the 35-year-old with just one previous cap to his name who has scored 31 goals in all competitions this term for Athletic Bilbao.

Sergio Busquets is back with Barcelona due to a broken finger and that could pave the way for club teammate Sergi Roberto to make his full international debut having featured regularly this season for Barca.

Italy also have choices to make in attack, with none of their players scoring more than three goals in qualifying - quite startling when you consider that Ibrahimovic and Robert Lewandowski bagged 24 between them in reaching France 2016.

After a spell in the cold, Graziano Pelle has been back among the goals for Southampton recently and could get the nod to start up top.

Elsewhere, Federico Bernardeschi of Fiorentina, Napoli's Jorginho and Daniele Rugani from Juventus are all vying to make their international bows, while there were recalls for Thiago Motta and Lorenzo Insigne.

The two most experienced players in both camps are goalkeepers, with Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas having 319 international caps between them.

Italy possible starting lineup:
Buffon; Darmian, Rugani, Bonucci, Antonelli; El Shaarawy, Motta, Verratti, Candreva; Immobile, Zaza

Spain possible starting lineup:
Casillas; Gaspar, Pique, Bartra, Alba; Thiago, Roberto; Fabregas; Isco, Iniesta; Morata

Head To Head

This will be the 34th match and 10th since the millennium between these two European powerhouses.

In the two meetings since Spain prevailed 4-0 in the sides' Euro 2012 final meeting, Del Bosque's men have triumphed on penalties following a goalless draw in the 2013 Confederations Cup and 1-0 when Pedro netted at the Vicente Calderon the following March.

We say: Italy 1-1 Spain

It is hard to imagine a goalfest given these two sides' strong defences but it could still be an entertaining game, with both happy to take a draw.

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