With Inter, Nicolò started accumulating trophies, beginning with the 2020-2021 Serie A title under Antonio Conte and now aiming for a repeat under Simone Inzaghi.
Lazio-Inter marked Nicolò Barella’s 250th Serie A appearance, highlighting his pivotal role in the Nerazzurri team. ‘Gazzetta dello Sport“, in a focus on the midfielder, explained what his matches so far have revealed: ‘His trophy cabinet is already rich and ready to grow further; he has achieved the status of a top player, and Inter is holding onto him tightly.
With Inter, Nicolò has started collecting trophies, beginning with the 2020-2021 Serie A title under Antonio Conte and now aiming for a repeat under Simone Inzaghi after winning two consecutive Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa titles. Under Roberto Mancini’s guidance, he participated in the legendary journey of Euro 2020. In Serie A, he has contributed 21 goals and 37 assists, nearly two tackles per match, and one shot and one key pass per game. Furthermore, an 83% passing accuracy and over 5 duels won per outing.
Reaching the milestone of 250 appearances? He is the first born in 1996 to achieve this feat, and among the top 5 leagues, only the Frenchman Ludovic Blas is slightly younger than him in reaching this milestone by a few months. Only Declan Rice has more interceptions than him – 1612 to 1415 – and two factors make him the best among midfielders under 27 in Europe: he has created 310 chances (assists leading to a teammate’s shot), with the second-best being Martin Odegaard at 273. The 37 aforementioned assists make him the second-best among midfielders under 27 in the top European leagues, with only Jadon Sancho performing better with 45.
So far, Inter’s 2023-2024 season has been exciting, perhaps with the only small setback of finishing second in a not-so-easy Champions League group. In the first 10 matches of the season, Barella seemed to be operating at only 50% of his potential. However, with the onset of winter, the Sardinian midfielder has rekindled his engine.
He provided two assists in the last three league games, as many as he had delivered in the previous 34. As always, Europe’s top clubs court him and will try to lure him away from Milan, but at the same time they will face the resistance from the coach, the management, and the player himself. But at these figures, courtships are part of the game. Contract renewal negotiations until 2028 are already underway, and some updates may come early next year. Those 250 Serie A appearances are just a milestone, a certainty for the future in which the player is expected to make many more with his team concludes La Gazzetta dello Sport.”
