Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola has defended Italian football.

Serie A is under the microscope after Italy's failure to qualify for this year's World Cup.

But Zola says: "I believe that Italy and the Italian league have grown a lot in terms of play in recent years.

"I really like this change of trend, trying to win not only on tactics.

"Returning to Italy, at the level of the game they did extraordinary, beautiful things. What we saw at the European Championship is a team that played modern, pleasant, effective football. We did it, this type of football, under certain conditions that allowed us to attack the spaces, play across the board.

"In the last few games, we have found different teams, more closed, more defensive and in those conditions the skills to win the games are different. This is what we have been missing, coupled with bad luck: it's not often that someone as reliable as Jorginho misses two penalties. But we are on the right path."