Italian team has to contend with series of probing questions? (9)
I believe the answer is:
interview
'series of probing questions?' is the definition.
'interview' can be an answer for 'questions?' (I've seen this before). I'm not sure about the 'series of probing' bit.
'italian team has to contend with' is the wordplay.
'italian team' becomes 'inter' (Inter Milan FC).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'to contend' becomes 'vie' ('vie' can be a synonym of 'contend').
'with' becomes 'w' (short for with).
'inter'+'vie'+'w'='INTERVIEW'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for interview that I've seen before include "job talk" , "encounter" , "Formal discussion with a job applicant" , "Oral examination" , "Question and answer session" .)