Gil Kennel 21/02/2021 12:06
Niccolò Barla (Reuters)
Looking at Inter’s fantastic season at the top of Serie A, many tend to attribute the success to the lethal striker duo, Romulo Lukaku and Lautro Martinez. The Belgian and Argentine does give a great season and deserves all the compliments, but it seems that there is one player who is no less and perhaps even more responsible for moving Antonio Conte’s machine and is proving to be one of the best players in the world at the moment – Nicolas Barla.
At 21:45 (live on Channel ONE2), Inter will arrive in an unfamiliar situation for the big derby against Milan. The Narazuri, who saw the city rival stumble last week, know that a victory will bring it significantly closer to the title, in a season in which it seems so far that of the crazy top three in Serie A, it is the strongest. She looks so much thanks to Barla’s wonderful ability and if you get the same ability from the context that is considered by many to be a player of the season in Serie A so far, on the blue-black side of the fashion city there are quite a few reasons to be optimistic about returning the Scudetto to the closet after 11 years.
Dad on the field, and off
Barla may have just celebrated his 24th birthday earlier this month, but that doesn’t stop him from displaying intensity, game wisdom and especially maturity that doesn’t embarrass connections that have belonged to the top of world football for years. Despite his young age, he has been doing so for a number of years in Serie A, but it seems that the significant leap of the relationship has reached its peak this season and the stamp we received in the big Derby d’Italia against Juventus, in which he led Inter to 0: 2 in one game The most one-sided we’ve seen this season in boot country, with a result that definitely does great favor with the champion.
Beyond a tremendous cooking for Arturo Vidal and a gate full of cunning, game intelligence and a lot of cheekiness, positive of course, Barla will simply mumble Juventus’ link-up and make her look completely helpless. “He is a perfect player in every way,” he said at the end of that game Conte On Barla, who was accurate on 52 of 57 dedications (91 percent success), recorded 100 percent success in wide raises (2 of 2), provided three key dedications and won 5 of 7 ground fights. It all happened before that very night, right after the victory, he “flew” to the hospital to be with his wife while she gave birth to his third daughter, when he was only 23. Is it any wonder that Conte so trusts him?
Barla grew up in Cagliari and made his senior team debut when he was 18, at the end of the 2014/15 season, at the end of which the team was relegated from Sardinia to Serie B. Despite relegation to the sub-league, the midfielder found it difficult to fit in the following season and after half a season in which he played little, moved to the half-season loan to get up. His 16 appearances for the small team from the north did not help her stay in the league, but the good ability he displayed bounced him back to Cagliari, who ran Serie B back to the Premier League at the end of that season.
And the rest is history. In the following three seasons, Barla has already become a significant screw in his youth team and recorded in the media no less than 104 appearances in three years of disappearing from the eyes of the one who is considered the most brilliant football brain in the boot country – in the mouth of Maruta. The professional manager of Inter, who arrived after a huge success at Juventus, convinced the heads of Narazuri to attach the diamond from Sardinia and he joined on loan for the season with a purchase option, which was of course exercised at the end of last season for 28 million euros transferred to the team from Sardinia.
“True World Class”
“Barla is an extraordinary player,” said the 2006 world champion, who in the past coached quite a few of the biggest stars in the history of Italian football in particular and European football in general, Marcello Lippi The legendary. “He is the best Italian midfielder today and one of the best in Europe in general. He knows how to press, he has an excellent dribble, he threatens the goal and is involved in the game both with the ball and without the ball. “Many compare him to Marco Tardelli (a legendary former midfielder who won with the Italian national team at the 1982 World Cup), but for me he is simply a unique breed of footballer and a true World Class midfielder.”
Lippi’s words accurately reflect the prevailing opinion in Italy about Barla. For years the boot country has longed for a relationship of its kind, one that embodies a hybrid of aggression that does not embarrass Gennaro Gattuso, dedication reminiscent of those of Andrea Pirlo and a passion reminiscent of Tardley’s famous run after the World Cup final goal against West Germany.
Leads in every parameter
Barla has a contract with Inter until 2024, but it is highly doubtful that Inter’s heavy financial difficulties will not cause the Chinese owner to sell his diamond, which has already been mentioned as being returned by Real Madrid, Barcelona and all the majors in the Premier League. Its price is currently estimated at around 50 million euros, but it seems that players like him are a rare commodity in world football, which could boost its price tag by at least a few tens of millions more.
Barla thrives in Conte’s 3-5-2 formation. The fact that next to him are usually played two axes in the form of Marcello Brozovic and Arturo Vidal frees him to break link lines time and time again, often finding himself in a game in the opponent’s court or in a comfortable position to threaten the goal from a second wave. This can be attributed mainly to the addition of Vidal, who this season gives another significant mass to the monstrous link of the Narazuri and allows Barla to own the house when it comes to managing the game and freeing him from defensive tasks, although the latter also does successfully as he records 1.8 fouls per game and wins Percent and 54 percent respectively.
Another character test
It seems that to a large extent, Barla symbolizes the change between last season’s Inter and this season’s predatory team. If in all of last season he scored one goal and recorded only 4 assists, then this season, after 21 rounds, Arla already has 3 goals and 5 assists. Just like his team, the contact also updated a version. It is much more versatile, more portable and much more dangerous.
Now, Barla is facing another character test. This time, a performance like the one he gave against Juventus will no longer surprise anyone, but is considered one that is expected of a player of his level, with his ability having a dramatic impact on the Narazzi’s game. That big evening at San Siro proved that he is indeed winking at the stuff of champions, when one more night like this, this time against the city rival who this year makes voices of a team that wants and is able to return to its great days, will bring him closer to truly becoming one.
