Nicolò Barella

Nicolò Barella (Italian pronunciation: [nikoˈlɔ bbaˈrɛlla]; born 7 February 1997) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Italy national team.[1]

Nicolò Barella
Barella with Cagliari in 2017
Personal information
Full name Nicolò Barella
Date of birth (1997-02-07) 7 February 1997
Place of birth Cagliari, Italy
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Inter Milan
Number 23
Youth career
2006–2015 Cagliari
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 Cagliari 105 (7)
2016 → Como (loan) 16 (0)
2019–2020 → Inter Milan (loan) 27 (1)
2020– Inter Milan 20 (3)
National team‡
2012 Italy U15 5 (0)
2012–2013 Italy U16 4 (0)
2013–2014 Italy U17 5 (0)
2014–2015 Italy U18 8 (0)
2015–2016 Italy U19 16 (0)
2016–2017 Italy U20 8 (0)
2017–2019 Italy U21 9 (1)
2018– Italy 18 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:50, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2020

Club career

Cagliari

Born in Cagliari, Barella is a youth exponent from Cagliari Calcio. He made his Serie A debut on 4 May 2015 against Parma, replacing Diego Farias after 68 minutes in a 4–0 home win.[2]

In January 2016, he was sent on loan to Como in Serie B, where he played as a first choice for the second part of the season.[3][4]

On 17 September 2017, he scored his first professional and Serie A goal against SPAL in a 2–0 home win.[5]

Inter Milan

On 12 July 2019, Barella joined Inter Milan on a year-long deal with an obligation to buy with four-year contract to take effect after the loan period.[6]

He made his club debut on 26 August against Lecce; he came off the bench in the second half for Matías Vecino, and later helped set-up Antonio Candreva's goal in an eventual 4–0 home win in Inter's opening match of the 2019–20 Serie A season.[7][8]

He made his Champions League debut on 17 September against Slavia Prague; after coming off the bench for Marcelo Brozović in the second half, he scored an injury-time equalising goal to help Inter to a 1–1 home draw, which was his first goal both in the competition and for Inter.[9]

On 9 November, he scored his first league goal for the club as Inter came from behind to achieve a 2–1 home win over Verona.[10]

He scored his first goal in the Coppa Italia on 29 January 2020, in 2–1 home win over Fiorentina, in the quarter-finals of the tournament.[11]

On 17 January 2021 Barella assisted for the first and scored a vital second goal in a 2-0 win against Juventus.

International career

With the Italy U19 team, Barella took part at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, finishing in second place.

With the Italy U20 he took part at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing in third place.

Barella made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 1 September 2017, in a 3–0 friendly defeat against Spain.

Barella was called up to the senior Italy squad by manager Gian Piero Ventura for the team's 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Albania in October 2017.[12]

Barella made his debut for the Italy senior side on 10 October 2018, under manager Roberto Mancini, in a 1–1 friendly draw against Ukraine in Genoa.[13] On 23 March 2019, Barella scored his first goal for Italy in a 2–0 home win over Finland in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.[14]

He took part with the U21 side in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[15]

Style of play

Barella is considered a promising and highly talented young midfielder in the European sports media.[16] He was named the best young Italian player born in 1997 for two consecutive years between 2012 and 2013.[17][18] Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki described him as an intelligent, promising, and composed midfielder, despite his young age, with a wide range of skills. She also commented that Barella "...can dribble through a defence, score volleys and start counter-attacks. He knows how to find the right passes and is box-to-box. Most importantly he can win back possession quickly and recover the ball." Barella's performances have also been praised by Italian former footballers Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Del Piero.[16] The Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has compared him to Steven Gerrard, describing him as a player with good technique, vision, stamina, and physical strength, despite his relatively short stature, as well as an ability to win balls, which enables him to break down possession and subsequently start quick attacking plays. A versatile player, he is capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and has even been used as an attacking midfielder or as a defensive midfielder, but his favoured role is as a right-sided, offensive-minded central midfielder, known as a "mezzala" in Italy. Known for his eye for goal, he possesses a good shot from outside the area, and is known for his ability to make late attacking runs from behind into the penalty area. He is also an accurate set piece and penalty taker. He is known for his strong character, leadership qualities, competitive spirit, and winning mentality, but has also drawn criticism at times in the press for protesting or arguing excessively with officials during matches.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 17 January 2021.[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cagliari 2014–15 Serie A 3010——40
2015–16 Serie B 5000——50
2016–17 Serie A 28020——300
2017–18 34610——356
2018–19 35130——381
Total 105770——1127
Como (loan) 2015–16 Serie B 16000——160
Inter Milan (loan) 2019–20 Serie A 2714110[lower-alpha 1]2—414
Inter Milan 2020–21 182106[lower-alpha 2]0—252
Total 45351162—666
Career total 166101211620019413
  1. Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 18 November 2020.[27]
Italy
YearAppsGoals
201840
201983
202061
Total184

International goals
Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Barella goal.[27]
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1.23 March 2019Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy5 Finland1–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2.8 June 2019Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece6 Greece1–03–0
3.18 November 2019Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy12 Armenia3–09–1
4.7 September 2020Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands14 Netherlands1–01–02020–21 UEFA Nations League A

Honours

Club

Inter Milan

International

Italy U19

Italy U20

Individual

References
  1. "Italy – N.Barellla – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. "Cagliari vs. Parma – 4 May 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  3. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Players - Nicolo BARELLA". Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  4. "Nicolò Barella - national football team player". Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  5. "Spal-Cagliari 0-2: decidono Barella e Joao Pedro". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 17 September 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  6. "Nicolò Barella is an Inter player!" (Press release). Inter Milan. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  7. Cotugno, Vladimiro (26 August 2019). "Inter-Lecce 4-0: Brozovic, Sensi, Lukaku e Candreva, quanti sorrisi per Conte". Il Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  8. "Internazionale vs. Lecce 4 – 0". Soccerway. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  9. "Inter Milan 1–1 Slavia Prague". BBC Sport. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  10. "Inter fights back to beat Verona and move top of Serie A". Sportsnet. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  11. "Inter Milan 2–1 Fiorentina". BBC Sport. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  12. "Barella and Inglese called up by Italy". Football Italia. London: Tiro Media. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  13. "Italy: Azzurri held by Ukraine". Football Italia. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  14. "Italy: Kean and Barella take down Finland". Football Italia. 23 March 2019.
  15. "Parte l'avventura europea: Di Biagio ufficializza la lista dei 23 Azzurrini" [The European adventure begins: Di Biagio officialises the list of 23 players]. figc.it (in Italian). Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  16. "Nicolo Barella: The Cagliari midfielder lauded by Andrea Pirlo". BBC Sport. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  17. Giampaolo Gaias (31 October 2012). "Nicolò Barella miglior centrocampista d'Italia classe 97" (in Italian). www.tuttocagliari.net. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  18. "La Giovane Italia, premiati i talenti del futuro. I VIDEO" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  19. La Giovane Italia (8 May 2015). "Cagliari, dopo Zola anche Festa lancia Barella, lo Steven Gerrard sardo" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  20. Giacomo Brunetti (4 September 2018). "Italia, Barella: 'Sono una mezzala e non mi sento un leader. Lasciare il Cagliari? Sono arrivate offerte, ma...'" (in Italian). www.calciomercato.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  21. Michele Pavese (16 September 2018). "È nata una stella: Barella è pronto per il grande salto" (in Italian). www.tuttomercatoweb.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  22. Lorenzo Marucci (7 September 2018). "La nuova Italia - Barella, la carica della Sardegna per l'Italia" (in Italian). www.tuttomercatoweb.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  23. Fabio Massimo Splendore (6 May 2018). "Barella, uno da Roma. E con lo stesso manager di Nainggolan" (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  24. Roberto Pinna (19 September 2017). "Fantacalcio, Cagliari: Barella ora è anche Magic" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  25. "Italia, Barella: "In Nazionale non sento particolari pressioni. Cagliari? Ho scelto io di restare"" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  26. "Cagliari, Barella e i grandi sardi dello sport: "Voglio essere come Zola, Aru e Datome"" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  27. "Barella, Nicolò" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  28. "France cruise past Italy to win European Under-19 final". espn.com. ESPN. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  29. https://web.archive.org/web/20170519214906/http://www.figc.it/it/204/2537620/2017/05/News.shtml
  30. "Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners". Football Italia. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  31. "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
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