“Complete” Inter Milan Defender Praised For Sparking Italy Comeback Vs Albania At EURO 2024 | OneFootball

Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni put in a “complete” performance at the back for Italy against Albania at EURO 2024.

Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, give the 25-year-old a score of 7/10 in the player ratings for the Azzurri’s EURO 2024 oepener, via FCinterNews.

Bastoni is not a player who scores very often. Over the past club season, the defender scored just once for Inter.

But against Albania, Bastoni made it count.

The 25-year-old had been left shellshocked with the rest of his teammates by a very early Albania goal.

Federico Dimarco had tried to find Bastoni with a long throw inside the first half. But despite the duo’s chemistry at club level, there was a mix-up which saw Bastoni in no-man’s-land with the ball inside his own box.

But rather than letting this disastrous moment demoralize him, Bastoni got straight to work.

The 25-year-old was vital in Italy getting a grip on the game in possession right away.

Bastoni’s proactive positioning and passing, and technical quality were key in Italy putting Albania under pressure right away after going behind so early.

And it was the Inter defender who’s head got to the ball barely ten minutes later to draw Italy level.

Alessandro Bastoni “Complete” For Italy Vs Albania

After he had erased the deficit for Italy, Bastoni still had work to do.

The Inter defender was tasked with marking Albania and Chelsea striker Armando Broja.

And Bastoni’s physicality, pace, positioning, and anticipation all but nullified Broja’s contribution.

Meanwhile, in possession the Inter defender was just as effective.

Bastoni kept things ticking over. Just as for Inter, he was adventurous in his positioning despite the nominal role of centre-back.

This allowed Italy to circulate the ball far too quickly for Albania to deal with.

Bastoni was constantly giving an option to teammates like Jorginho and Nicolo Barella.

The end result was that Italy went ahead from a breathless first half performance, and then saw out their lead in the second.