Five key stats from week 9 in Serie A - Featuring how Balotelli struggled away at Parma

2. Balotelli out of sorts in early exit

“We had to change something for the second half,” Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Sport Italia Sunday after Milan slumped to a fourth defeat in their first nine matches. “I took off Balotelli because he didn’t have a good game, while [Andrea] Poli had done well and it was a tactical issue.

“Balotelli had a few good moments, but overall it was not a good game. I needed a centre-forward who could really play that role and Balotelli wasn’t doing it, although he has the characteristics. He’d also been booked, so I was afraid we’d go down to 10 men.”

The Milan boss’ seeming condemnation of the temperamental Italy international is indeed well-supported by the striker’s dismal line of statistics on the day.

In 52 minutes of play Balotelli had just two attempts on goal, both of which came from miles out and were blocked, whilst he compled just eight of 15 passes and won one of four headed duels en route to a Performance Score of -5.

And as the famed San Siro outfit continues to flounder, sitting tenth in the standings at weekend’s end, Allegri quite rightly appears to be particularly troubled by the poor showing from the greatest talent in his squad.