MANUEL LOCATELLI bagged a brace of goals for the first time in his career as imperious Italy defeated Switzerland 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday to become the first side into the last 16 of Euro 2020.

“I’m fortunate to have great players who enjoy playing soccer, like to have fun and take some risks — which is the essence of soccer,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini said.

As usual — and perhaps the only characteristic carried on from Italy teams of the past — the defense was impenetrable.

It’s quite a turnaround for a team that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Italy extended its unbeaten streak to 29 matches — one shy of the team record — and kept its 10th clean sheet in that run.

Mancini, however, suggested that Italy still trails France, Portugal and Belgium on the list of tournament favorites.

“One of them is the World Cup champion, one is the European champion and one has been first in the ranking for quite a while,” Mancini said. “They’ve been shaped over time and it’s only normal that they’re ahead of us. But anything can happen in soccer. It’s not such a sure thing.”

Locatelli’s first goal came following a textbook exchange with Sassuolo teammate Domenico Berardi midway through the first half. His second came with a long, low shot shortly after the break that left Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer immobile. At age 23, Locatelli became the tournament’s youngest scorer so far.

Ciro Immobile added the third with another long-range effort in the 89th for his second score of the tournament.

Giorgio Chiellini had a goal waved off by video review early in the match because of a handball. Then the Italy captain exited with a left thigh injury.

Italy leads Group A with a six points after overwhelming Turkey 3-0 in the tournament opener. Wales is next with four points earlier after beating Turkey 2-0 in Baku.

Switzerland has one point and Turkey has zero.

(SD-Agencies)