Argentina 2-0 Italy - 5 Talking Points

Argentina beat Italy 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, courtesy a couple of sweet finishes from Sevilla's Ever Banega and West Ham's Manuel Lanzini in the second half.

This was the Azzurri's first outing since the disaster of Milan in November when a loss to Sweden meant they couldn't qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

There were a few encouraging signs for Luigi di Biagio, but a loss to an Albiceleste side sans Lionel Messi is bound to only put more questions in front of those that run Italian football, than answers.

Here are some points to ponder from the game.

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#5 Argentina's full-backs impress

Nicolas Tagliafico and Fabricio Bustos manned the full-back positions for Argentina, and they did not disappoint.

In Sampaoli's demanding system, the full-backs play an important role, in trying to push the opposition wingers back apart from providing support and allowing the wingers to cut infield a lot more.

Both the young players didn't disappoint, displaying standout energy levels throughout the game.

Bustos had a difficult start to the game, as Lorenzo Insigne was giving him cold-Manchester-night-shaped hell.

But Bustos recovered from the early tests that Insigne bested him at, and ensured that he didn't allow the Napoli forward to impact the game like the Azzurri hoped that he would.

For Tagliafico, all he had to do was ensure that he held a position up the field, and just allowed Angel Di Maria to do his thing.

It was an easier night for Tagliafico than Bustos because Federico Chiesa had an off day and had to drop back to assist Alessandro Florenzi to deal with Di Maria.

#4 Misses return to haunt Italy

Italy squandered many chances

After a largely uninspiring first half, Italy came back on to the pitch with purpose and verve, and they troubled Nicolas Otamendi and co. in the Argentine rearguard.

Insigne had the most gilt-edged opportunity of the game.

Leandro Paredes' terrible back pass was pounced upon by Ciro Immobile, who played an easy square ball to Insigne.

From the position he was in, it was easier for Insigne to miss than score, but he somehow put his shot wide of the target.

A few minutes later, Marco Verratti's perfect lofted ball behind the Italy defense was met by the run of Immobile, who took it down beautifully with a perfect touch, but his shot was hit straight at Willy Caballero.

Italy would go on to rue those misses, as Banega and Lanzini put them to the sword in the end.

#3 The Gonzalo Higuain conundrum

Higuain missed a few chances again

It has become a problem for Argentina that the norm for Gonzalo Higuain has now become to flatter to deceive in national team colours.

The Juventus striker had at least three opportunities to give his team the lead, but on none of those occasions did he even stretch Gianluigi Buffon in the Azzurri goal.

That begs another question to be asked.

Why are Argentina not picking one of the most prolific goalscorers in Europe?

Mauro Icardi cannot do more for Inter Milan to be noticed by his national manager, and it is a shocker that he isn't even in the squad.

Given that Higuain has regularly failed to deliver in clutch situations for Argentina, it should be only too obvious that a performer as consistent as Icardi isn't picked.

#2 Italy's starting lineup gives their fans hope

Italy played their first game since failing to qualify for the World Cup

In Italy's first game since the debacle against Sweden, their starting XI looked more like the team that should have started in Milan on that fateful day.

Lorenzo Insigne started on the left wing, and Di Biagio finally made the switch away from the three-man central defense that had gone slightly stale, after serving Italy so well in the preceding years.

There were also encouraging performances for Verratti and Jorginho in midfield. This Italian side is nowhere near a finished article yet, as several moments in that game showed.

Even the better performers like Insigne and Verratti had forgettable moments, but Di Biagio has given himself a base to rebuild this Italian side from.

A 4-3-3 suits the personnel that Italy have a little more than the 3-5-2 that had become synonymous with the Azzurri.

So it can only be a little glimmer of hope that Di Biagio has allowed his personnel to dictate the system he employs.

#1 Lionel Messi deprives fans of the star attraction

Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero sat out the match

Those that had made the night's trip to a half-empty Etihad Stadium would have surely spent the money they did, in the hope to see Lionel Messi play.

But a muscle strain for the little genius meant that he could play no part in the game whatsoever.

Also, besides the fans missing watching the genius in action, Argentina missed what Messi provides on the pitch.

There was little to no creative spark provided by anyone in the side when the game was crying out loud for someone to break it open.

Sampaoli needs to have a look at this situation as well.

It is unfathomable that Messi would not play the World Cup, but in the extreme worst-case scenario, Argentina need someone to play that creative role.

Like the situation with Icardi, it is also perplexing that Paulo Dybala doesn't even make the Argentine squad.

Argentina need a creative spark to take a little burden off Messi, and they really don't have a better option than Dybala.