The performance of young midfielder Kristjan Asllani has been deemed not up to par in Inter Milan’s Serie A loss away to Napoli yesterday evening.

Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, argue that Asllani was decisively beaten in the midfield battle by Partenopei midfielder Stanislav Lobotka.

Asllani was handed a start in yesterday evening’s match against Napoli.

The 21-year-old was part of a heavily-rotated team, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan out injured. The Armenian’s absence meant that Simone Inzaghi had to reshuffle his midfield.

Evidently, the coach preferred to play the second-string midfield, containing both Asllani and Roberto Gagliardini. Presumably this was to rest both Hakan Calhanoglu and Marcelo Brozovic for the upcoming Coppa Italia final.

Kristjan Asllani Leaves Inter Light In Midfield Battle Vs Napoli

Whilst Asllani’s performance was certainly better than the disastrous display from Gagliardini, it was anonymous.

The Corriere note that the Albanian former Empoli man was never really able to dictate the tempo. Asllani frequently seemed a half a step late to the ball.

This allowed Asllani’s opposite number Lobotka to really come to grips with the game.

The Slovakian, along with Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Piotr Zielinski, overran Inter in midfield at times.

In the view of the Gazzetta, Nicolo Barella did do a decent job, with his energy putting up more resistance centrally.

Moreover, when Marcelo Brozovic came on in the second half, he changed the balanced positively for the ten-man Nerazzurri.

However, in the view of the Corriere, Asllani looked a bit out of his depth throughout the match. The Albanian saw out the ninety minutes, but never really made a telling contribution.

Meanwhile, the Corriere argue that Andre Onana was Inter’s best performer on the night. The Cameroonian could do little about any of the Partenopei’s goals, and made a few good stops, in addition to being aggressive at claiming the ball.