Italy legend Claudio Gentile urged the Azzurri to be very aggressive on Spain’s Andres Iniesta tomorrow.

The Euro 2016 Round of 16 kicks off on Monday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT) in Paris.

“We must respect Spain, as most of their players are champions of Europe and trophy-winners at club level too,” 1982 World Cup winning hardman Gentile told Goal.com Italia.

Italy legend Claudio Gentile urged the Azzurri to be very aggressive on Spain’s Andres Iniesta tomorrow.

The Euro 2016 Round of 16 kicks off on Monday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT) in Paris.

“We must respect Spain, as most of their players are champions of Europe and trophy-winners at club level too,” 1982 World Cup winning hardman Gentile told Goal.com Italia.

“Despite the defeat to Croatia, they remain a super national team, but they too ought to fear us. These two sides are capable of anything and it’ll be the big test for both of them.

“It’s Spain’s chance to give continuity to Euro 2012 and ours to prove we’ve got what it takes to win. Italy are trying to get back our place, which is among the favourites for any tournament.

“Monday will be the moment of truth to see if Spain are in decline and what the Azzurri can do in the long-term. If we consider the first two games of the group, I think Italy played the best football so far.

“We want to be a surprise. Spain are strong in attack, while Italy are solid in defence. Iniesta is the engine of the team, the man who dictates the tempo. For years he has been playing at the top level and the ideal would be to stop him getting much of the ball. That’s how we closed down Diego Maradona and Zico.”

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