Sandro Tonali major boost for Newcastle United | OneFootball

Along with Malick Thiaw, I think Sandro Tonali has been one of the best and most consistent Newcastle United players this season.

However, even the former AC Milan star looked like he was physically feeling the impact of so many matches this season for both club and country, as United lost to Brentford on Sunday.

Sandro Tonali then four nights later playing the entire 90+ minutes match for Italy, as they won 2-0 against Moldova yesterday.

However, there was a silver lining and major boost for Newcastle United with that.

Ahead of yesterday’s match, Italy boss Gattuso made clear that Sandro Tonali would only play on Sunday, if the final group game would mean anything with a win over Norway.

However, Norway won 4-1 on Thursday against Estonia and so whilst they are only three points ahead of Italy, the Norwegians are a massive 17 goals superior when it comes to goal difference. It means Italy would need to win by nine goals to top the group above Norway.

Some pretty crazy figures as Norway have averaged almost five goals per group qualifying match, scoring 33 in seven games. Of those 33 goals, Erling Haaland has scored an incredible 14 goals in the seven qualifiers.

The big reason why Gennaro Gattuso would only have risked Sandro Tonali against Norway if something to play for, is because with Italy set to finish second in the group, they will be in the World Cup play-offs next March and the Newcastle midfielder is one yellow card away from a suspension.

Great news for Newcastle United though, as at least star man Tonali will now have nine days between matches, as United take on Man City a week on Saturday at St James’ Park.

It was in this fixture last season that Sandro Tonali (pictured above in that game) started his first Premier League game after his suspension ended, the midfielder excellent and Newcastle at the very least deserving the point from a 1-1 draw against Man City.

Sandro Tonali is still desperate though for his Italy teammates to get some revenge against Norway on Sunday, after a 3-0 defeat to them early in the group stage, speaking to Sky Sort Italia:

“It wasn’t easy [against Moldova] but this is modern football.

“We also knew that Norway had won, so it was a bit of a strange atmosphere.

“There were a lot of changes too and that made it rather difficult to concentrate fully, but we got the three points and that’s what we needed right now, to keep winning.

“We played a little less well than before but we have to look at the big picture and the overall progress.

“It’s easy to judge from the outside, but you have to experience it and know that at the end of the day the result counted for us more than for World Cup qualification.

“It would mean a lot to us [if Italy beat Norway], because it might not heal the wound, but it will help us push forward and end this group on a high.

“We reacted after Oslo, a game where we had huge problems, so we faced down all the waves of attacks that came our way.

“This is football, it’s joy when you win and horrible when you lose, so you’ve got to take the blows when you deserve them.”

It is going to be a strange one as well for Sandro Tonali, as he will sit out the Norway match at his old stadium, the San Siro, Tonali a lifelong AC Milan as well from being a kid:

“It is emotional…it is a place that is in my heart and every time I go back to Milan will be emotional for me.

“It’s not the first time, but will always feel like the second, it’s always going to be wonderful.”

This is the November 2025 international schedule for Newcastle United players:

Thursday 13 November

Moldova 0 Italy 2

Sandro Tonali playing the full match in this World Cup group qualifier and though it took until the 88th minute for the away side to score, they fully deserved the eventual 2-0 win. Tonali the key figure in midfield as a much changed and weakened Italy side dominated throughout (28 v 3 on shots, 13 v 1 corners, 65 v 3 player touches of the ball in the opposition box) but struggled to convert that into goals.

England 2 Serbia 0

A dominant England performance with a classy Saka strike giving the hosts a half-time lead. Dan Burn watched on from the bench as the Three Lions failed to take their chances, until the 90th minute, Eze matching Saka with the quality of his  finish.

Friday 14 November

Luxembourg v Germany (Nick Woltemade, Malick Thiaw) World Cup group qualifier

England U21s v Republic of Ireland U21s (Lewis Miley, Lewis Hall) U21s European Championship group qualifier

Saturday 15 November

Brazil v Senegal (Bruno Guimaraes) Friendly at neutral venue (Emirates Stadium)

Switzerland v Sweden (Anthony Elanga, Emil Krafth) World Cup group qualifier

Sunday 16 November

Italy v Norway (Sandro Tonali) World Cup group qualifier

Monday 17 November

Albania v England (Dan Burn) World Cup group qualifier

Germany v Slovakia (Nick Woltemade, Malick Thiaw) World Cup group qualifier

Sweden v Slovenia (Anthony Elanga, Emil Krafth) World Cup group qualifier