The first international break of the season has come and we have seen some very impressive performances, making the time spent apart by the teams on display thus far seem insignificant.
A total of nine Roma players were called up for international duty by their national team managers for the Euro 2020 qualifiers, with three players captaining their sides over the break. With the injury to Cengiz Ünder in the Turkey camp as they prepared for their qualifying matches, however, only eight were in action for their nations.
Here’s an overview of their performances.
Captain Alessandro Florenzi, Gianluca Mancini and Lorenzo Pellegrini were named in Roberto Mancini’s latest Italy squad for the Azzurri’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Armenia and Finland following impressive showings for Roma. Florenzi played the whole game as Italy overcame Armenia on Thursday 5 September by three goals to one, but had a below-par performance earning a 6.9 rating from SofaScore. He came on as a substitute for Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri who picked up a knock in the eighth minute in their 2-1 win versus Finland on Sunday 8 September and despite some great forward runs, his general performance was unimpressive and it reflects in his 6.6 SofaScore rating.
Pellegrini, on the other hand, performed well as he came on in the 61st minute and scored one of Italy’s goals versus Armenia, earning a 7.2 SofaScore rating and earning a 7.5 rating with his performances against Finland. He has been putting in these kinds of performances in the Serie A and his form will do a lot for Roma as they return to the Serie A on Saturday.
Gianluca Mancini was on the bench for both games.
Pau Lopez got a Spain call up for their Euro 2020 qualifiers away at Romania on Thursday 5 September and at home against the Faroe Islands on Sunday 8 September, but was not able to add to his only cap for La Roja as he witnessed their 2-1 victory against Romania and their 4-0 defeat of the Faroe Islands national team from the bench.
Edin Dzeko, one of three national team captains in the Roma squad, captained Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday 5 September as they lost by four goals to two against Armenia, scoring a goal, hitting the post and getting booked in the process. His was a powerful performance (7.4 SofaScore rating) but Armenia rode the wave and took their chances in an entertaining encounter. On Sunday 8 September, he led his side to an emphatic 5-0 victory against the visiting Liechtenstein, scoring one and providing another and getting an 8.6 SofaScore rating. He has also hit the ground running in the Serie A, with one goal and assist so far.
Aleksandar Kolarov captained and played the full match for Serbia in their 2-4 home loss to Portugal on Saturday, where he picked up a yellow card and earned a 6.6 SofaScore rating. Against Luxembourg, on Tuesday 10 September he captained his side to an impressive 1-3 away win, provided the assist for the first goal and also picked up a yellow card in the process in a much-improved performance which earned him a 7.1 SofaScore rating. He has been most impressive in the Serie A, with two goals from two games thus far.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who joined on loan on transfer deadline day from Arsenal and is yet to feature for the club, captained the Armenia national team in his 88th and 89th cap against club captain Florenzi’s Italy, and against Dzeko’s Bosnia and Herzegovina. He struggled against Italy as Armenia lost at home by three goals to one in a performance that was only worth a 6.7 rating, but tore Bosnia and Herzegovina apart in a performance that was rewarded with a 9.5 rating, getting his 25th and 26th goals and his 29th assist in a 4-2 victory at home.
29 Goals, 26 Assists in 89 Matches for my National Team?? #Armenia #Captain #Micki #Heno #Mkhitaryan @OfficialArmFF pic.twitter.com/gmpSKwJwip
— Henrikh Mkhitaryan (@HenrikhMkh) September 9, 2019
Justin Kluivert was on the bench for both of Netherlands wins away against Germany on Friday 6 September 2019 (4-2 win) and Estonia on Monday 9 September 2019 (4-0).
Paulo Fonseca will be hoping that the performances will improve going into the next phase of the season in which the Europa League and domestic cup competitions return, before the next international break.
