The midfielder is a pillar to be rediscovered. The coach has already succeeded with Dimarco. This year, he has only scored one goal and made five assists.

Nicolò Barella is a workaholic from the get-go. He stands out even if he doesn’t score a goal or make a right-footed volley, a specialty of his since his days in Cagliari, when he kicked a basketball with his feet to make his family understand what his destiny was. He is someone who is talked about in bars, in the stands, and in newspapers, because his name always ends up under the heading “best Italian and world midfielders,” certainly in Italy. However, apart from a few flashes of brilliance, he is not playing at his best.

The 2025-26 version of Barella, in terms of numbers, is more or less the same player. Perhaps even better in some respects: second in Serie A for key passes behind Dimarco (23), second for through balls (29), first for deep passes (69). The manifesto of verticality. The concept on which Chivu has built an Inter side geared towards attack, fluid and with the best attack in the league with 64 goals. Barella is second in chances created behind Dimarco (14) and his average number of successful passes per game has also increased compared to previous seasons. As usual, he is missing a few more goals, the “flaw” he carries with him, but he makes up for it with the kilometers he covers per game. Here, Nicolò is always among the best. Another strong point is his reliability: this year, he has only missed four games due to injury (Cremonese in the second leg, Sassuolo, Torino in the Coppa Italia, Borussia Dortmund), two due to rotation, and one due to suspension. He has five assists and one goal, scored against Cremonese (one of his best games). On a couple of occasions, he has also played as a playmaker in front of the defense, his old role. So, what is missing?

ball to Chivu—  One of the problems is consistency. Barella has repeatedly been involved in unrealistic plays, ends in themselves, between outside openings and plays that are riskier than expected. The stats are high, but most of the time the action has not been decisive. Let’s take the league as an example. This year, he has played from the 1st minute in 22 out of 25 games, but Chivu has only kept him on the field for the full 90 minutes in nine games. In seven games, he was substituted around the hour mark, as in the derby—one of his worst performances of the season—while in others, he was taken off in the last 5 minutes when the team was in the lead. The same goes for the Champions League, where he started in seven out of nine games. We always expect something more from Barella. His status and his CV say so. In 2022-23, he scored nine goals in a season, his best year, but this year he is still stuck on one. If he finishes like this, it would be his worst score (in 2023-24, he finished with two in all competitions). Chivu has the task of reviving his fortunes in this final part of the season. Dimarco’s example gives us hope.