Giampiero Ventura felt he could take plenty of positives after Italy and Germany played out a goalless friendly in Milan.

In a repeat of their Euro 2016 quarter-final, which saw Germany eventually came out on top following a penalty shoot-out, there was little to separate two sides at the San Siro.

The Azzurri, who romped to a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in their World Cup qualifier on Saturday, started with a three-man attack composed of Eder, Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti.

Germany, meanwhile, opted for a three-man defence of Benedikt

Hoewedes, Mats Hummels and Shkodran Mustafi, with Wolfsburg youngster Yannick Gerhardt given a debut in midfield.

Bayer Leverkusen forward Kevin Volland saw a second-half effort disallowed for a marginal offside call, before with eight minutes left, Italy forward Andrea Belotti’s shot came back off the inside of the post.

Ventura said: “We played a good game and granted little to our opponents. It is true that they lacked some players, but we also had some missing.

“Nevertheless, Germany is the world champion team and we have given them almost nothing and also had four or five chances when we had the superior number of players that we could have made better.

“Perhaps the result was a bit tight, but we have to accept it.”

Ventura also hailed his team’s ability to adhere to tactical changes.

“We have played with 3-5-2 in Israel, then with 4-2-4 in Liechtenstein and today with the 3-4-3 formation after just two days training.

“So congratulations to this team which begins on a course, there is so much to do, but the future is much brighter than you might think.”