The Azzurri jinx: Reliving Italy's most memorable wins against Germany

Manager Joachim Low insists Germany has no Italian complex, but history tells a different account. Germany has yet to beat Italy at a major tournament, a barren run of eight matches that began with a 0-0 draw at the 1962 World Cup.

Saturday marks the latest instalment in a long-standing and lopsided rivalry, with a semi-final berth - and a potential breaking point - on the line.

"We still have a settle to score with the Italians," said Germany's goalkeeping coach, Andreas Kopke.

Italy's managed to turn heads at Euro 2016 through a display of remarkable unity, relying on the collective rather than the individual. A 2-0 win over Spain showed the Italians' resolve even with a squad many considered the worst in a generation.

The aura around the Azzurri is strange - a mediocre team armed with belief and an inspiring tactician in Antonio Conte. Saturday's matchup is as much a football game as it is a psychological battle.

Here are three particular contests that shaped the Germans' psyche, and the Italians' unblemished record.

The Mario Balotelli show

The highlight of his divisive career, Mario Balotelli tore Germany's defence apart in the semi-finals of Euro 2012. He headed in an early goal to give Italy the lead and doubled the advantage shortly after with a ferocious strike past Manuel Neuer. The celebration that followed was iconic: Balotelli stripped off his kit and flexed his muscles, sending the internet into a frenzy.

Low noted afterwards that his game plan failed. He sent Toni Kroos to man-mark Andrea Pirlo, but it didn't work. Pirlo initiated the play that led to Balotelli's first goal.

The battle of 2006

Germany and Italy contested one of the best matches in World Cup history in the semi-finals of the 2006 edition, which would've reached penalties if not for a wonderful curling effort from Italian cult hero Fabio Grosso.

Germany forced Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon into several tournament-defining saves before conceding the fatal blow. As they pressed for an equaliser, Die Mannschaft then allowed a counterattack that ended the match altogether. Alessandro Del Piero looped the ball into the corner to send Italy on its way to the final in Berlin.

Manager Marcello Lippi came away from the night vindicated after throwing on three strikers as his substitutes.

To make things more unlikely, Italy managed to pull off the victory in the shadow of the country's biggest sporting scandal.

"On that very day," wrote academic John Foot in his book, 'Winning at all Costs.' "The prosecutor in the calciopoli sporting trial in Rome had called for Juventus - Del Piero's club - to be relegated to Serie C. Only a game of this magnitude could have kept such news off the front pages."

Marco Tardelli's famous celebration

Much like the 2016 version, Italy wasn't expected to do much in the 1982 World Cup.

But Italy reached the final after registering three draws in the group stage and playing largely negative football.

The Azzurri met West Germany in the showpiece event at the Santiago Bernabeu, and while the first half went by without much incident, Italy began to express itself in the second stanza.

Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli, and Alessandro Altobelli all scored in a 3-1 win.

The sight of Tadelli running and screaming became a poster image for the Italians. It became known as the Tardelli cry.