Former Italy international Giuseppe Bergomi has said he believes the current team can beat anyone at Euro 2016 -- but admitted that he fears for them against Germany.
Italy will meet Joachim Low's side in the quarterfinals if they get past title holders Spain on Monday.
They have never lost a competitive fixture to the Germans, most recently beating them 2-1 in the semifinals of Euro 2012.
But Bergomi told Germany's Die Welt newspaper: "If Germany had been on the other side of the draw, our chances would have been much higher.
"We don't want to play against them, that's for sure.
"In our last meeting, Joachim Low showed that he had worked out how he has to play against Italy -- in a 3-5-2 system, just like us.
"If both of us play the same style, then the best team will win -- and that is currently Germany."
Bergomi said he had been pleasantly surprised by Italy's form at the tournament, adding: "We certainly wouldn't have thought that we had the best defence in the world, we wouldn't have thought we had a decent midfield either, and we were saying we had no attack.
"But our players are fighting like lions. We were underestimated, and that's good for us.
"We're always good when we have the feeling that we're fighting against everybody. That is our mentality -- we only hit back when our backs are against the wall."