Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque says he is wary of wounded Italy ahead of the Confederations Cup semi-final between the two great European nations.

Italy are wounded first because ace striker Mario Balotelli will miss the game injured, and Andrea Pirlo may not be fully fit if he even wins his own battle with injury in time for the game.

But they are also wounded by the memory of their humiliating 4-0 defeat by all-powerful Spain in the final of Euro 2012.

La Furia Roja may be heavy favourites to win again this time around, but Del Bosque does not think football is so simple, and that Italy have the capacity to shock the world’s top-ranked team.

"Italy will be a very difficult opponent," Del Bosque said.

"It is going to be a re-match for them. We want to get to the final though."    

Meanwhile, Spain defender Gerard Pique, who played in the Euro 2012 final rout, has refused to consider a potential Confed Cup final clash against hosts Brazil, who play Uruguay in the other semi-final.

He thinks that if they get ahead of themselves with Italy the current obstacle in their path, they can come short in their bid to win the competition for the first time.

"Let's not talk about a potential final, it happened to us at the last Confederations Cup in 2009 and we lost to the United States in the semi-finals," Pique said.

"Let's talk about the game that comes next against Italy.

"It's a totally different match, the tournament is different, the heat is different and they come in [to the game] after a nice tournament so far. They won the first two games and lost to Brazil but they played hard at all times."