Spalletti on Barella's new role, Italy objective and marking Lukaku

Inter boss reveals his plan for 23-year-old midfielder, how to get the best of Italy and how to approach a meeting with the Chelsea striker

Nicolo Barella has been moved to a new role under Luciano Spalletti this season at Inter Milan and the coach says that is key to unlocking the 23-year-old's potential.

Barella has been used a deep-lying playmaker in the past, but Spalletti has pushed him further forward and he has thrived in a more advanced position. The Italian has two goals and two assists in Serie A this season and has been one of Inter's most impressive performers.

“Barella is a player with great potential,” Spalletti told Sky Italia. “He's still young, but he has already shown that he can be a key player for Inter. I think he can be even better in a more advanced role. He has the quality to create chances for others and score goals himself.

Italy objective

Barella is also a key player for Italy and Spalletti believes that he can help the Azzurri win the European Championship next year.

“Barella is a very important player for Italy,” Spalletti said. “He's a player who can make a difference. He's got great technical quality and he's a very good passer of the ball. He can also score goals.

“I think Italy have a good chance of winning the European Championship. They've got a good team with a lot of quality players. Barella is one of those players and I'm sure he'll be a key player for Italy in the tournament.”

Inter will face Chelsea in the Champions League next week and Spalletti knows that stopping Romelu Lukaku will be key to getting a result.

“Lukaku is a very good striker,” Spalletti said. “He's strong, he's fast and he's a good finisher. He's also a very good target man. We'll have to be very careful when we play against him.

“We'll have to be compact and we'll have to close him down quickly. We can't give him any space to turn and face the goal. We'll also have to be careful at set-pieces. He's a very good header of the ball.

“But I'm confident that we can stop him. We've got a good defense and we've got a good goalkeeper. We'll be ready for him.”