Italian media praised Marco Verratti after his performance against Real Madrid: ‘An undisputed leader, how nice that he’s Italian.’
The 29-year-old was only second to Kylian Mbappé for player ratings on Italian sports papers. The former Pescara starlet completed 92% of passes at the Parc des Princes last night, earning praise from former coach Fabio Capello and his teammate Neymar who compared him to Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Verratti’s performance was highlighted by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport and Il Corriere dello Sport.
Here’s what the three main Italian sports papers had to say about the Italy international.
Gazzetta: ‘A Partidazo. A complete performance. Focussed in defence, creative, brilliant and dangerous in attack. How nice that he is Italian.’ Rating: 7.5/10
Tuttosport: ‘The undisputed leader of PSG’s midfield. He was the best player on the pitch after Mbappé.’ Rating: 7.5/10
Corriere dello Sport: ‘A giant who made Toni Kross and Luka Modric struggle.’ Rating: 7.5/10
He’s fantastic but nothing near Pirlo!
who, of the two pretenders, will be the first to win the CL – PSG or City? Both have been close and both will surely win it and probably multiple times. But who will get the trophy first?
You don’t know anything AZ
Verratti is magical.i love him ,the way he push the strikers pilling pressure on RM defence.juv and Milan need player like him
AZ – different player to Pirlo, if both at peak in same era both start for Italy and compliment each other.
Be like saying Maldini / Cannavaro, if the same era and both at peak you’d want both playing.
Would be nice if he wasn’t always injured for Italy and played a little more advanced role . Let’s hope he is ok for playoffs in March
Forza Marco — Vogliamo la qualificazione al Mondiale.
When PSG are playing and I know he is in midfield, I always watch the game. He was fantastic on Tuesday and with that kind of performance, he will go a long way. As he is from Pescara very near to my home town, I do like to see him do well and to be fair he always gives 100%. Sometimes he does tend to slow the game down which is not the right way but other than that he is probably one of the best midfielders in the World and yes I am so happy he is Italian.