Total disappointment for Nicolò Barellawith the knee he received after a few minutes that effectively conditioned the match of the Inter midfielder. But the thunderous fall of the Azzurri did not even spare the author of the goal that gave them the lead against Albania: “He goes down and takes your breath away, a knee to the back of the left thigh, it’s not him, not even the one we saw here who is half of what we know. He loses balls, he loses Freuler at the beginning of the action for the 1-0, he doesn’t have the strength to chase him”, we read on Sports Courier. Of the same opinion is La Gazette: “The injury, the blow suffered: they would be mitigating factors which, however, he will be the first to deny. This is not Barella and you can see from how Freuler escapes him on the goal. A ghost.”
Negative judgment also regarding Tuttosport: “Well, maybe that initial pain in his thigh affected him, but he is a ghost of himself above all in terms of dynamism. The way in which he is disinterested in Freuler, who fits in undisturbed into the goal, is serious. His Caporetto.” TMW makes it clear why it was a bad evening: “Tonight Xhaka explained to him how to really lead a team. He got lost in the general confusion”.
Nicolò Barella’s report cards
TMW: 4
Gazzetta dello Sport: 4
Sports Courier: 4
Allsport: 4
Corriere della Sera: 4
The Republic: 5