Luciano Spalletti rages at possibility his players are 'leaking tactics' to members of the press - as Italy coach brands them as 'WEAK' and claims 'they are hurting the national side'

A furious Luciano Spalletti has raged at a journalist following Italy's last-gasp 1-1 draw against Croatia over fears he may have a 'mole' in his camp. 

Spalletti also hit out at his side's critics during his post-match press conference after Italy secured their spot in the knockout stages of the competition, finishing second in Group B.

The defending champions had looked to be heading for a third-place finish after Luka Modric gave Croatia a 1-0 lead in the second half. But Spalletti's side hit back late on, with Mattia Zaccagni curling in a late strike to secure a berth in the last 16.

The Italian coach had opted to change up his side's formation ahead of this match, having played a 4-3-3 formation against both Spain and Albania. On Monday, he deployed a 3-5-2 formation, with Mateo Retegui and Giacomo Raspadori spearheading his side's attack.

When asked by a journalist about why his side opted to deploy the new formation, Spalletti fumed at the reporter after it had appeared his formation had been released to the media before the game.

'You haven't interpreted that, you've been told that and you've done well to repeat that,' Spalletti said.

'But this is not your poetic license. This is a weakness of those who are actually leaking things because there's an internal and external environment.

'If there are people who are actually leaking things from the inside out - then that's someone who hurts the national team.

'Whoever's told you that, that hurts the national team but I speak to the players day in, day out.'

While there was heartbreak for Croatia, the defending Champions have underwhelmed so far in Germany, with Italy suffering a narrow defeat by Spain, thanks to a Riccardo Calafiori own goal, before scraping a 2-1 victory over Albania in their opening fixture.

Having copped some criticism for their performances, Spalletti hit back at his side's detractors during his press conference, saying: "Everybody is trying to get us out (of the tournament)," Spalletti told reporters after his team snatched their late draw.

"If I were afraid I would have done another job. There's no point in being afraid.

"I don't want to be more concerned than I need to be or load up additional pressure that people are putting on my shoulders.

"There's venom coming from all sides and I inject myself with this venom if it's not."

The Italy boss also insisted that his side 'deserved to go through' despite also claiming that Italy did not play the best football.

Having finished second in the group, Italy will now take on Switzerland in the round of 16 on Saturday at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.