Giorgio Chiellini is back. Back to his best. And back at Wembley to face England.
He was there, remember, when the new Wembley opened, on March 24, 2007, with a 3-3 draw between England's Under-21s and their Italian counterparts.
Truth be told, he didn't have the best game, arguably at fault for the hosts' second goal, when he failed to cut out a ball from Matt Derbyshire for Wayne Routledge.
But even by that point, he had already shown everyone what he was all about.
During the first half, he had been left with blood streaming down his face after being struck by a stray boot.
Next Match
It remains one of the defining images of his career, as there was never any chance of him going off.
His head was bandaged up and he promptly returned to the field. It was clear the man was a warrior, fully committed to the cause.
He was a different player back then, of course, a powerful left-back who liked to get forward.
That was perhaps unsurprising. He doesn't like to admit it now as a symbol of Juventus but Chiellini had supported AC Milan when he was a kid, and he idolised Paolo Maldini.
In truth, though, he neither looked nor played anything like the outrageously elegant Maldini. But Chiellini could never have been characterised as a mere brute.
You don't spend 15 years at the top without being smart and Chiellini is one of the most intelligent players in the game, in every sense.
A fluent English speaker, Chiellini earned a degree in economics and commerce, before securing a master's in business administration, in 2017.
He has proven an expert in managing his career too.
Getty/Goal
As former Juventus coach Fabio Capello pointed out, when Chiellini started to lose some of his pace, he honed his skills as a central defender and formed one third of Juve's legendary 'BBC' backline alongside Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli.
He did that by being cleverer in his movement; after all, such remarkable longevity can't merely be attributed to the kind of impressive physical strength that prompted man-mountain Zlatan Ibrahimovic to call Chiellini his toughest-ever opponent.
Chiellini, of course, has long played up to his persona. After celebrating a crucial Turin derby goal for Juventus by ferociously beating his chest, he embraced his 'King Kong' nickname.
He didn't just make life a nightmare for opposition forwards either; he tormented his own team-mates in training, with Juve centre-forward Alvaro Morata famously telling El Pais that going up against Chiellini was "like being put in a cage with a gorilla and you have to steal his food".
That kind of tenacity eventually takes its toll, though, and Chiellini has begun to feature less and less for Juve over the past year.
The arrival of former Ajax sensation Matthijs de Ligt was always likely to allow the Bianconeri to rotate their backline more and more, but it was concerning to see Chiellini being repeatedly sidelined by niggling injuries.
Tellingly, though, Italy boss Roberto Mancini didn't even want to entertain the idea of leaving the veteran defender out of his Euro 2020 squad.
"He doesn't need to be evaluated," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport in January. "All that matters is that he gets back playing and is fine.
"For us, Chiellini is fundamental, also as a point of reference in the dressing room for a young squad. And the moment he steps on the field, you already know that he will give everything."
That was obvious to anyone at Wembley back in 2007.
Of course, his next appearance at the home of English football will be even more physically challenging; a far greater test of his mix of endurance and intelligence.
Getty/Goal
England may not be the most free-flowing, dynamic team in world football ("They're not easy on the eye," as Chiellini puts it) but they do boast a plethora of fast young forwards.
Remember, Chiellini has already missed two games at the Euros through injury and former Milan boss Arrigo Sacchi felt he saw some worrying signs of fatigue during Tuesday's draining semi-final win over Spain.
That would be wholly understandable, of course. Time is undoubtedly catching up with Chiellini but he's clearly still enjoying the race.
His mood throughout the tournament has been remarkably relaxed, almost jubilant, as he makes the most of what is expected to be his last tournament at international level.
Italy's captain has playfully compared himself to Lionel Messi, as they're both left-footed and both presently out of contract, and mischievously labelled Spain skipper Jordi Alba "a liar" during their minor dispute over the victor of Tuesday's coin toss.
His body may be starting to betray him but his mind remains as sharp as ever. He's still the master of mind games, still dispensing lessons in the dark arts.
And he remains a formidable centre-back. He proved that by containing Romelu Lukaku in the epic quarter-final win over Belgium. On that night in Munich, Chiellini utterly vindicated Mancini's decision to recall him even though Francesco Acerbi had deputised wonderfully well for him, against Wales and Austria.
Then again, we shouldn't have been surprised by Chiellini's composure and concentration in such a high-pressure encounter.
He has always said that, as far as he is concerned, "the most beautiful part of the game" is the first whistle, because after that, everything else goes away, all of the pressure and the tension disappears.
"You don't feel anything," he says, "and only think about playing."
That fearless focus is why he's still playing at this level a month shy of his 37th birthday. It's why he's back at Wembley. And it's why he will be willing to spill blood again.
Italy's greatest warrior is going to relish every second of this final battle.