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At the Stade de France, Roberto Mancini saw the kind of Italy side he wants to build: a team with a clear identity, brave on the ball, positive in its approach but humble enough to suffer when needed, and ready to defend with ten men behind the ball if required. After the false start against Belgium and the emphatic win away to Türkiye, the coach was able to measure his side’s progress against one of the strongest teams in world football. But the tests keep coming. Tomorrow night at the Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna (20:45, live on Rai 1, with Poland’s Marciniak in charge), the Azzurri play their fourth and final match in the space of 11 days. A week on from their commanding victory in Bursa, Italy face Türkiye once again. Montella’s side were also beaten 3-0 by Belgium on Friday and remain bottom of the group after losing all three of their matches so far.
“We certainly won’t underestimate them,” Mancini warned. “They’re a very good team with some excellent players and a huge amount of technical quality. It would be a massive mistake to think this will be an easy game.” Vincenzo Montella’s problems continue to mount. In addition to the injured Yildiz and Çalhanoğlu, he will also be without the suspended Arda Güler and Barış Yilmaz, Türkiye’s two standout performers in Bursa. “Türkiye are going through a difficult spell, but I think Montella has done a great job in taking them back to the World Cup and into Nations League A. We played very well in Bursa, and tomorrow it will be up to us again.” Mancini also gave his thoughts on the new international window, which has combined the September and October fixtures: “I’ve enjoyed it, and I think the players have too, but four matches in such a short space of time is too demanding, especially for them. Tomorrow, we want to finish on a high.”
MANCINI AND BOLOGNA. The Italy coach, whose record with the national team stands at 38 wins, 15 draws and 10 defeats, returns to the city where he grew up as a footballer and to the stadium where he made his first-team debut 45 years ago. Mancini’s long journey in the game began in Bologna, where he moved from Jesi at the age of just 13 to join the Rossoblù academy and pursue the dream shared by so many young footballers. Tomorrow night, the Dall’Ara will once again be backing Roberto and his players, with close to 30,000 supporters expected and 27,000 tickets already issued. “I grew up in Bologna. I arrived here when I was still a child. I love Bologna and the people of Bologna, and they’ve always shown me a lot of affection.”
KEAN RETURNS HOME. After making eight changes to the side that faced Belgium for the trip to Türkiye, Mancini limited the rotation to just two changes against France, with Calafiori and Kean coming into the starting XI. Kean, however, will definitely miss tomorrow night’s game. “Unfortunately, Moise isn’t well and hasn’t recovered,” Mancini said. “We’re letting him return home this evening. There are only three days between the game in Paris and this one, so we’ll make more changes.”
BARELLA HUNGRY FOR GOALS. After starting against Belgium in Rome and sitting out the trip to Bursa, Nicolò Barella came on for the final half-hour against France, injecting fresh energy into the side and going close to scoring the winner. It is now more than two years since his last goal for Italy. “When you play 70 games a year, you don’t have the same sharpness you had at 23,” the Inter midfielder said in his press conference. “But if you look at the stats, I’m still one of the players who covers the most ground. I do need to score a few more goals for the national team, though. I’ve scored ten, so that’s an area where I’m a bit behind.”
With 72 caps, second only to Gigio Donnarumma, Barella is now one of the senior figures in the squad and an important reference point for the younger players who have recently joined the group at Coverciano. “The Italy side that is taking shape has real personality. The coach asked us to rediscover that enthusiasm and I think we’re doing that, because otherwise you don’t come back in a game like the one against France and then push to try and win it at the end. At EURO 2021, the strength of the group made the difference. There are a lot of good players here and plenty of young players eager to prove themselves, but in the end the most important thing is the group.” Tomorrow, Barella will not come up against his Inter midfield partner Hakan Çalhanoğlu. “Hakan is a great player. I first got to know him as an opponent and then had the pleasure of playing alongside him. He’s one of the leaders of this Türkiye side and they’ll miss him, but they have plenty of other quality players. It won’t be easy for us, especially because we’ll be facing a team that has been hurt by recent results and will be determined to show what they can do.”
