Nicolo Barella has become the “total midfielder” in the engine room of Inter Milan.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews. They argue that the 27-year-old’s spectacular goal against Atalanta was only the start.
Barella certainly gave a demonstration of his quality with his goal against Atalanta on Friday.
The former Cagliari produced a stunning improvised volley with his weaker foot to put Inter up 2-0 within ten minutes at the San Siro.
Last season, Barella received some criticism for the fact that he was not regularly getting on the scoresheet.
The Italian international is a player who gets himself into the final third on a fairly regular basis. But he is not a player who takes up goalscoring positions as his teammate Davide Frattesi does, for instance.
But Barella showed on Friday that he is capable of producing the spectacular. Even if it is not from an obviously good scoring position.
Nicolo Barella “The Complete Midfielder” For Inter Milan
It would certainly be a mistake to think that Barella offers only the occasional wondergoal, though.
In each season that he’s been at Inter since he joined in the summer of 2019, Barella has become more integral to how the Nerazzurri’s engine room functions.
Barella gave a clear demonstration of what he offers in Friday’s match against Atalanta.
La Dea are never an easy opponent to play against. That is particularly the case for midfielders.
Atalanta look to deny space in midfield at all costs, trying to force opposition midfielders into errors.
But there were few blemishes on Barella’s performance against Atalanta.
As the Corriere note, the 27-year-old spent the whole match getting himself into just enough space to get on the ball.
And when Barella did receive possession, he invariably had the technical polish to do something useful with it.
Barella has certainly become the player who keeps Inter ticking over in midfield.
