Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella has been going from strength to strength this season, and he showed all his class once again in his display against Cagliari yesterday evening.

The 24-year-old’s complete performance was noted by today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who compared him to legendary former Ajax and Netherlands midfielder Johan Neeskens.

Barella’s sending off against Real Madrid on Tuesday left a bad impression, and the midfielder will have been eager to prove himself after the unfortunate incident.

Against the Rossoblu, many different qualities were needed from the 24-year-old, and he more than adequately filled every role that was needed to help his team put Cagliari to the sword and earn an emphatic 4-0 win.

Barella raided forward, passed the ball well, and provided the assist for Alexis Sanchez’s goal, the Nerazzurri’s second of the night.

However, he also found himself tracking back and filling the spaces left by defenders who themselves went forward at times to make sure the team never fell out of balance.

The Gazzetta note the similarity to the job done by Neeskens all over the pitch in the famous “total football” system employed by Ajax and the Dutch national side in the 1970s.

Inter wasted no effort or space and made it virtually impossible for the Rossoblu to cope, and Barella’s canny and complete display was a big part of this.