Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella was not at his best for the Italian national team as they failed to beat Northern Ireland and slipped to second place in their World Cup qualifying group on the final round of qualification.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who gave the 24-year-old a mediocre 5/10 grade in their player ratings for the match and suggested that he had lacked his usual energy.
Italy came into the international break sitting top of their group and headed to the 2022 World Cup by way of automatic qualification, but a draw against Switzerland left them in need of three points away to Northern Ireland.
The Swiss took top spot in the group with an emphatic win over Bulgaria, while the Azzurri slumped to a goalless draw against Northern Ireland.
The Italian team as a whole looked out of ideas, but Barella in particular did not out in the kind of performance that we have become accustomed to at club and international level.
As with in the draw against Switzerland, the 24-year-old was taken off midway through the second half, while he also failed to have much of an impact on the game while he was on the pitch.
The Gazzetta argue that he looked “out of gas” and that while he did everything he could to rise the occasion he was simply not at his best due to tiredness and fitness issues.
