Nicolò Barella

Nicolò Barella
Personal information
Full name Nicolò Barella
Date of birth (1997-02-07) 7 February 1997
Place of birth Cagliari, Italy
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Cagliari
Number 18
Youth career
Cagliari
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014– Cagliari 78 (7)
2015–2016 → Como (loan) 16 (0)
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– Italy U21 6 (0)
2018– Italy 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 October 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2018

Nicolò Barella (born 7 February 1997) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Cagliari Calcio and the Italy national team.[1]

Club career

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.

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.

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

He 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.[3]

He 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.[4]

Playing style

Barella is considered to be a promising and highly talented young midfielder in the European sports media.[5] He was named the best young Italian player born in 1997 for two consecutive years between 2012 and 2013.[6][7] Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki has also lauded the player, describing him as an intelligent, promising, and composed midfielder, despite his young age, with a wide range of skills. He also commented that Barella "...can dribble through a defence, score with left-footed 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.[5] 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 central midfielder. 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. An aggressive, dynamic, tenacious, and hard-working team player, he is also known for his strong character, leadership qualities, competitive spirit, and winning mentality, although he has also drawn criticism at times in the press for protesting or arguing excessively with officials during matches.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

Career statistics

Club

As of 11 October 2018
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
Como (loan) 2015–16 16000——160
Cagliari 2016–17 Serie A 28020——300
2017–18 34610——356
2018–19 8110——91
Total 787500000837
Career total 947500000997

International

As of 14 October 2018[16]
Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
201820
Total20

References

  1. ↑ "Italy – N.Barellla – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  2. ↑ "Cagliari vs. Parma – 4 May 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  3. ↑ "Barella and Inglese called up by Italy". Football Italia. London: Tiro Media. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Italy: Azzurri held by Ukraine". Football Italia. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Nicolo Barella: The Cagliari midfielder lauded by Andrea Pirlo". BBC Sport. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  6. ↑ Giampaolo Gaias (31 October 2012). "Nicolò Barella miglior centrocampista d'Italia classe 97" (in Italian). www.tuttocagliari.net. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "La Giovane Italia, premiati i talenti del futuro. I VIDEO" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Roberto Pinna (19 September 2017). "Fantacalcio, Cagliari: Barella ora è anche Magic" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "Barella, Nicolò" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
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