On October 6 of 2016, Italy hosted Spain at the Juventus Stadium in Turin in a 2018 World Cup Qualification which concluded in a 1-1 draw which was actually a fairly good result for the Italian side as Spain had the upper hand and enjoyed having control of the match while Italy struggled to create any real goal-scoring chance.

Spain’s Vitolo scored the opening goal of the match at the 55th minute as he took advantage from Italy’s defence where Mattia de Sciglio and Gianluigi Buffon made mistakes which allowed Vitolo score a goal.

As the minutes were ticking down it appeared like Spain was going to snatch the victory but a late penalty kick from Daniele de Rossi which ensured that both sides collected 1 point from this match.

This draw came at a steep cost for Italy as Ac.Milan’s Riccardo Montolivo picked up a knee injury after receiving a harsh tackle from Sergio Ramos and this injury will be keeping Montolivo out of the playing grounds for around 6 months.

“Milan announce that Riccardo Montolivo underwent medical surgery Saturday morning for the reconstruction of his left knee anterior cruciate ligament. The surgeon Professor Doctor Herbert Schoenhuber is satisfied with the result of the surgery. The recovery time will be five to six months, unless complications arise.” This was a statement released by Ac.Milan as the Italian club confirmed that Montolivo had gone through a surgery and will take a significantly long period of time to get back into the pitch.

There were rumors emerging that linked Chelsea’s CescFabregas with a possible transfer to Ac.Milan as the Spanish player is struggling to find consistent playing time with the Premier League and he is a performer who could replace Montolivo in the midfield department of Ac.Milan but this transfer was later rejected by Vincenzo Montella as the head coach of the Italian club stated that they aren’t even interested or looking into making a possible transfer involving Fabregas.