Five things learned from Italy’s Nations League elimination

One of the craziest clashes in the history of the Azzurri ended up in a narrow defeat by Germany over two legs. Giancarlo Rinaldi tries to make sense of what went on in Milan and Dortmund.

At half-time in Germany, I was writing Italy’s obituary. They were so far behind their opponents that it looked as if they could not hope to compete with the top-level nations for some time to come. A spirited second half suggested otherwise but it was too little, too late and left a lot of people – myself included – scratching their heads. Was the real team the one that could hardly get out of its own half or the one that – without VAR’s intervention – would have had 15 or 20 minutes to take the tie to improbable extra time? Here are a few conclusions to be drawn across the two legs.

Corner Calamities – Problems at set pieces have been a major issue for this side but they topped them all with the second goal conceded in Germany. Gigio Donnarumma went walkabout and allowed Jamal Musiala to stroke the ball into an empty net. Every time they faced a corner or free kick within range of goal they looked uncertain, hesitant and disorganised. Those kinds of issues mean that even if they had played better, they were always likely to struggle for victory. By this stage, every opponent knows that a decent cross can cause panic and confusion in the heart of a defence which once was the envy of everyone.

Dimarco Missed – Of course every player who did not play gained in reputation from missing out on this elimination but there is no doubt the Inter man was a big absentee. No individual was going to guarantee coping with an aggressive German attitude but the flying wing-back was a key part to the new tactical approach from Italy. His bold attacking might have eased some of the pressure faced by the Azzurri and also caused Julian Nagelsmann’s side a few more problems from an attacking point of view.

Signs of Sandro – If there was some consolation to be taken from the outcome of the showdown, it was the further rehabilitation of Sandro Tonali. A goal that tricked supporters into thinking they could be hosting the semi-finals of the Nations League in June was a reward for a convincing display from the Newcastle man in the first game in Italy. Like everyone, he struggled in the first half of the second clash, but at least it looked like his country had got a box-to-box midfielder of quality back in its ranks.

Cool Kean – He saw precious little of the ball for much of the two encounters, but the Fiorentina frontman at least showed composure when a chance did fall his way. It confirmed the best season of his career in goalscoring terms and continued his good Viola form with the national team. He had a tough time against a rugged German defence which mostly handled what he had to offer. However, when opportunities did come his way, he showed he had the quality to take them.

Variable VAR – One man’s clear and obvious error is not necessarily an opinion shared by everyone. After 45 minutes in Germany, there was no doubt who the better team were but a combination of the home side easing up their pressure and the Azzurri starting to play threw them an improbable lifeline. Moise Kean had the ball in his hands to complete a potential hat-trick before the backroom officials intervened and Szymon Marciniak decided to reverse his on-field decision. Maybe Nico Schlotterbeck got a touch on the ball before tripping Giovanni Di Lorenzo but any contact – from replays shown on TV – was almost imperceptible. Whatever the referee saw was enough to convince him that he had made a mistake. Fans of Italy, however, might feel more than a little dubious about whether there was enough there to change his original verdict.

@ginkers