The Azzurri have been one of the best teams so far in the competition, having negotiated Group A with three wins out of three games without conceding a goal.
They saw off a very spirited Austria team in the last round despite leaving it late to win 2-1 on the night.
Belgium on the other hand showed similar traits, winning all their group matches and knocking out the defending champions Portugal in the Round of 16 stage thanks to Thorgan Hazard’s lone goal.
The Red Devils are sweating to keep star players Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne fit ahead of the game but Mancini can rely on his full squad.
The Borussia Dortmund man has also warned his team-mates to focus until the end and not to give the Italians any chances to feed on.
“They [De Bruyne and Hazard) are feeling better, we are optimistic. We will know whether they will play or not. They are two big players, so we hope they can make it,” Witsel said at a press conference on Thursday.
“Italy have Jorginho, Verratti and many other quality players. They play good football and I imagine Friday’s game will be a nice one. We will try to be ready,” the 32-year-old continued.
“They want to keep the ball possession and attack the space, it will be a complicated game in the middle of the park.
“They have a great midfield, so we’ll need to adapt, but the same is true of them. We’ll need to remain focused for 90 minutes, not as we did against Portugal when we fell asleep in the final minutes.
“Italy play really well, I like their style. It won’t be easy to stop them. We can’t commit the same mistakes we did against Portugal.”
