Mancini drops six players, including Cisse and Liberali, for Italy vs. France

Roberto Mancini at a press conference at Coverciano in Florence, Italy. Picture courtesy of Lorenzo Bettoni.

Italy coach Roberto Mancini has dropped six players from his matchday squad for tonight’s game against France, including Alphadjo Cisse and Mattia Liberali.

Mancini has named his 23-man squad for tonight’s clash with France at San Siro. With 29 players travelling to Milan for the match, the Azzurri boss had to leave six out.

TMW is among the Italian sources reporting that the six players sent to the stands for tonight’s clash are Honest Ahanor, Matteo Palma, Federico Gatti, Nicolò Pisilli, Alphadjo Cisse and Mattia Liberali.

Cisse, Liberali and Palma were the only potential debutants called up by Mancini, which means every player available tonight already has at least one international appearance.

Multiple sources claim that Francesco Pio Esposito, his brother Sebastiano, and Nicolò Cambiaghi will start in Italy’s attack.

Palma and Gatti had not been included in the original 31-man squad. Palma replaced injured Roma defender Gianluca Mancini, while Gatti was added to the list on Sunday night.

Udinese attacker Nicolò Zaniolo had already pulled out of the squad on Tuesday due to personal reasons.