Last night - Italy vs Turkey

Despite boasting one of its 'golden generations' and a host of international star players, the Turkish national team - which had a poor World Cup campaign - failed to make a good start to the Nations League, where it is competing in League A for the first time in its history. Instead of playing their home matches against France and Italy in a metropolis like Istanbul, the Turkish team played in Kocaeli and Bursa, both close to the city, and lost both matches, complaining about the poor pitch conditions. Whilst the red-and-whites put in a much better performance against France - and perhaps deserved a point - the first half-hour of the match against Italy in Bursa was an absolute nightmare. Having put in a poor performance in their opening home match against Belgium, Montella's players conceded three goals in 27 minutes against Mancini's Italy and were unable to mount a proper response to this shock. When both teams scored a goal each in the second half, questions began to arise about the Italian manager's future with the Turkish national team. The Turks, who have the worst record in Group A, must turn things around in the return fixture following that heavy 4-1 home defeat; a poor result could spell the end of Montella's tenure on the national team bench.

He was also heavily criticised at the World Cup

Montella, who was frequently criticised at the World Cup for the system he built without a traditional centre-forward, also drew criticism in the Italy match for deploying players out of their natural positions. The decision to play Juventus' Zeki Çelik as a right-back despite his natural position being right-back, and the goal conceded due to his individual error, proved to be a bad experience for the player as well. The Italian manager's defence - stating that there is no Turkish striker who has played regularly for top-tier teams in the Super Lig for years - drove Turkish football fans absolutely mad. His failure to even call up Enes Ünal - who has played a fair number of matches in the Premier League - to the provisional squad, whilst persistently selecting players such as İrfan Can Kahveci and Samet Akaydın, who have no future in the team, has led to questions being raised not only about Montella's footballing philosophy but also about his sense of fairness.

Italy vs Turkey tickets

Mancini and his players, who returned from Bursa with three points after scoring four goals with ease despite leaving ten players behind, have boosted their confidence. If you wish to support the Sky Blues as they strive to end this long international break on a winning note, having also secured a psychological advantage over Turkey, you can make this wish a reality by purchasing tickets for the Italy vs Turkey match to be played in Bologna.