Italy equalled the record for consecutive games unbeaten (35), but Roberto Mancini wasn’t overly impressed with the result, which complicates the fight for top spot in the Azzurri’s World Cup qualifying group. 53 days after that historic night at Wembley, and after wins in their first three games in qualifying back in March, the Azzurri failed to overcome a resolute Bulgaria side and dropped two points. They are, however, still top of the group, but Switzerland have two games in hand. The Azzurri will take on the Swiss on Sunday in Basel in what promises to be an intriguing encounter. “We lacked a bit of precision in the final third,” Mancini said after the final whistle. “You do get games where you could play 90 minutes extra and still not score. They defended well, though we gave it our all. They countered once and they scored – that’s football. It would’ve been better to win, but Sunday’s game is an important one and we’ll go there with the intent to win.”

Federico Chiesa was one of the standout performers at the Euro and confirmed tonight that that certainly wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Under the watchful gaze of his father Enrico in the stands and in the city where he first made his name as a footballer, Federico scored his fourth Italy goal, even though it didn’t materialise into an Azzurri win. “We didn’t get the three points today, which would’ve meant going into Sunday’s game with a bit less pressure,” he said. “We’ll a repeat performance from the Euros against Switzerland. We weren’t clinical enough in the final third but we played some good football – the goals will come.”

Italy couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Florence one year ago too: “There’s a bit of regret; we’re a mature team and we need to think about winning each and every game. We began last year with a draw at home last year too, and we had a lot of self-belief back then too and the results followed. We’ll need to do the same now, with enthusiasm and the energy transmitted to us by the coach every day.”

In his press conference yesterday, Leonardo Bonucci underlined the hidden difficulties of the first outing of the season. “We’d said that it would be a difficult game because they were tight at the back. We had our chances to win but we rushed things and weren’t clinical enough. It’s a shame; we wanted to celebrate a winning start with our fans but we played our game and I saw the same spirit on show as in the Euros. We’ll take this point and go to Switzerland to win, and then we’ll see.”