Nicolò Cambiaghi admits Italy ‘really struggled in the first half’ against Belgium, but remains confident ‘we’ll see a better’ performance in the next Nations League match with Turkiye.

The Bologna winger was an unexpected figure to complete the trident attack in a 4-3-3 formation with Moise Kean and Francesco Pio Esposito, yet proved to be one of the only impressive performers on the night at the Stadio Olimpico.

His versatility allowed the Azzurri to shift into a 3-5-2 when required, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo pushing further forward on the right flank.

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It didn’t pay off, as Belgium ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Mika Godts and Dodi Lukebakio, both sparked by misplaced passes in midfield.

“I have to be honest, we really struggled in the first half, Belgium did better than us and had a lot of scoring opportunities, Gigio Donnarumma rescued us on several occasions,” confessed Cambiaghi to Sky Sport Italia.

“We did better after the break, we too had two or three big chances, but we didn’t manage to equalise, and then they scored the second on the counter.”

This is only the second time in history that Italy have lost a home fixture by two clear goals without reply, the other also a 2-0 result against Croatia in August 2006.