Why Mancini dropped five players who featured in Italy’s 0-2 defeat to Belgium
Roberto Mancini speaks to the media at a press conference at Coverciano ahead of the 2026 September-October international break, which will see Italy take on Belgium, Turkiye, France and Turkiye again in the Nations League. (Picture: Lorenzo Bettoni).
Five players who featured in Italy’s 2-0 loss against Belgium on Friday have not travelled to Turkey as Roberto Mancini looks to rotate his squad amid a congested fixture schedule.
Nicolò Barella, Diego Coppola, Gianluca Mancini, Daniel Maldini and Mohamed Ali Zoma are among the ten Italy players who have remained in Coverciano and won’t be available for Monday’s Nations League game against Turkey.
The 10-man group will follow a specific training program at the Italy training ground, working under some members of Mancini’s staff, including ex-Middlesbrough striker Massimo Maccarone.
Only 23 players can be included in the squad list for Nations League games, and Nicolò Zaniolo already pulled out on Saturday due to fitness issues, so Mancini had to cut ten more players.
The list of players omitted from the next game includes five who featured in the defeat to Belgium, three of whom started, as coach Mancini looks to rotate his squad during a busy international break, as Sky Sport highlights.
Italy returned to training on Saturday after a defeat to Belgium on Friday evening, but as usual, those involved in the match didn’t train on the pitch the day after.
Barella, Coppola and Gianluca Mancini started against Belgium, but the Roma defender was the only one to complete the full 90 minutes. Maldini and Zoma were introduced in the second half.
The other players who won’t be available against Turkey are Ahanor, who remained on the bench against Belgium, Samuele Inacio, Eddy Kouadio, Massimo Pessina and Samuele Ricci, who had already been omitted from the previous 23-man squad list.
Today’s training session in Turkey will be Mancini’s only chance to test his starting XI for tomorrow’s game against Vincenzo Montella’s side.
Italy have just landed in Bursa, Turkey. The players will train, and one of them will join Mancini for an afternoon pre-match press conference.
After the game against Turkey on Monday, September 28, the Azzurri will visit France on Friday, October 2, and then meet Turkey again, this time at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna, on Monday, Friday 5.
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