Sandro Tonali slammed by Italian media as ‘tiredness’ blamed for ‘lower pace’ Newcastle United star

Italy lost 2-1 at home in the first-leg of their Nations League quarter-final against Germany on Thursday night, giving them a deficit to overturn in Dortmund on Sunday. Tonali, who started for and scored Italy’s goal in the first-leg, also started in Dortmund but couldn’t help prevent his side from falling to a 5-4 aggregate defeat after a chaotic 3-3 draw.

The hosts nudged themselves ahead in the 30th minute through Joshua Kimmich’s penalty, before doubling their lead six minutes later. By half-time, Germany were 3-0 to the good on the night, 5-1 ahead on aggregate and seemingly through to the Nations League semi-finals with the minimum of fuss.

However, a brace by former Everton man Moise Kean pulled two goals back for Italy before the 70th minute before a stoppage time penalty gave them the faintest of hopes of pulling off a remarkable turnaround. Ultimately, they would not be able to find that final goal and came up just short at Signal Iduna Park.

Sandro Tonali’s performance for Italy v Germany

Like he had done at the San Siro three days prior, Tonali started in midfield for Italy, but his night lasted just 68 minutes before he was withdrawn by Luciano Spalletti to be replaced by Giacomo Raspadori. Raspadori, a striker by trade, was put on with Italy 3-1 down to try and get his nation back into the tie and it was his late, late penalty that gave them hope of pulling off the most unlikely of comebacks.

For Tonali, though, it was a major comedown from the highs of not just his previous performance away on international duty, but also from his last club outing that ended in him lifting the Carabao Cup trophy at Wembley.

Sandro Tonali’s ratings from Italian media

Tonali’s performance against Germany was assessed by a whole host of outlets in Italy, with the Newcastle United man, who was Italy’s player of the match during the first-leg, largely scoring among the lowest of his teammates this time around.

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Sport Mediaset: ‘Tonali 5 - The one from Dortmund is a distant relative of the one seen at San Siro in the first leg. He gets lost in the mesh of the German midfield and fails to free himself with his movements from the marking of Stiller first and then Adeyemi. However, when he is free he lights up and builds passing lines that open up the few opportunities for the Azzurri.’

Cult of Calcio - ‘Sandro Tonali – 5.5. The Newcastle star was easily the best Italy player at San Siro, but seemed to be operating at a significantly lower pace this time.’

Calciomercato: ‘Tonali 5: he is never seen, after the splendid performance in the first leg not only does he not repeat but he never enters the game, probably also due to tiredness.’

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