Mario Balotelli he is bad for the team. Balotelli went on to start against England in the quarter-finals. His performance was described as "wasteful", but his effort was rated highly in a match where he missed multiple chances. He scored the first penalty taken in the shootout against his Manchester City teammate Joe Hart. On 28 June, Balotelli scored twice within the first 40 minutes in Italy's semi-final clash with Germany, as the "Azzurri" won 2–1 and progressed to the Euro 2012 final against European and world champions Spain. After scoring the second goal in that semi-final, he ripped off his shirt
Mario Balotelli League Group I match against Krasnodar in an eventual 5–2 away defeat. That was his first goal in a UEFA club competition since February 2015, when he scored for Liverpool against Beşiktaş in the round of 32 of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League knockout phase. On 2 October, Balotelli scored the winning goal in the 86th minute by sending a powerful kick from the edge of the box into the top right corner as Nice defeated Lorient 2–1 in a home Ligue 1 match, during which he received a yellow card for taking off his shirt in celebration of his