Sandro Tonali suffered defeat with Italy for the first time since making his comeback.
The Newcastle United midfielder started and played the full 90 minutes of Italy’s 3-1 defeat to France in the Nations League on Sunday evening.
Sandro Tonali is one of 10 Newcastle players away on international duty this week, but while it was all smiles for Newcastle’s English trio with Anthony Gordon scoring his first England goal, it was less enjoyable for Tonali.
Italy sat at the top of their Nations League group before the match, but France have now dethroned them following their victory at San Siro.
Tonali is fighting for a starting spot at Newcastle having been dropped for Sean Longstaff in recent weeks, so the international break was a great opportunity for him to send a message to Eddie Howe.
Sandro Tonali harshly criticised by Italian media
The international break started superbly for Tonali after he scored the only goal in Italy’s 1-0 win over Belgium on Thursday evening.
Italian media raved about Tonali’s performance vs Belgium but they quickly turned on him following the defeat to France.
Tonali was criticised by Italian media for his display against France with outlets suggesting he struggled in midfield against the trio of Adrien Rabiot, Manu Kone and Matteo Guendouzi.
On paper it looks that way, and Tonali certainly wasn’t at his best, but a closer look at the stats shows that his performance in midfield was overly criticised.
The numbers behind Sandro Tonali’s performance vs France
Italy lined up in a 3-5-2 formation against France with Tonali playing alongside midfield partners Manuel Locatelli and Davide Fratessi.
Tonali was given a 6.8 rating by SofaScore, higher than both his midfield partners – Locatelli (6.3) and Fratessi (6.4).
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Touches | 61 |
| Accurate passes | 43/49 (88%) |
| Key passes | 1 |
| Ground duels won | 6 |
| Total tackles | 3 |
Newcastle’s silky midfielder also completed 88 percent of his passes and completed one key pass – more than any other Italian midfielder.
He also boasted a 100 percent dribble success rate, won six of his 11 ground duels and only lost possession nine times.
There can be no criticism toward Tonali’s defensive workrate either after he made three tackles and two clearances.
Was it his best performance? Certainly not. But he was one of Italy’s better performers on the day.
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