The Italian Job gets a sequel! Can Mancini inspire a new generation?

Roberto Mancini is back as Italy head coach after a second spell; the former Man City boss won Euro 2020 with the Azzurri, who have not qualified for the last three World Cups; With exclusive insight from Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sky Sports' Sam Blitz analyses the road back for Italy...

This year, Italian football fell to its lowest ebb. In Europe, no Italian club made it past the quarter-finals - while Atalanta were the only Serie A side to reach the Champions League last 16. But that was nothing compared to the national team.

Italy did not qualify for the third World Cup in a row. An unthinkable prospect given they have won the competition four times.

The first two failures to qualify were masked over by the Euro 2020 triumph at Wembley. That at least gave the nation hope.

The third World Cup failure was one last straw. A 48-team World Cup did not include Italy. It brought about the resignations of not just head coach Gennaro Gattuso, but also Italian FA president Gabriele Gravina and Gianluigi Buffon as the team's head of delegation.

"It's a sensitive subject that affects me a lot, because not qualifying for three World Cups in a row is tough, and Italy certainly doesn't deserve that," Italy captain Gianluigi Donnarumma tells Sky Sports .

Now Italy have gone back to the future. Roberto Mancini, the manager who won the Euros five years ago, is back at the helm.

"We have to work. The only way forward is to work," adds Donnarumma. "There has now been a change of coach, the return of Mr Mancini - and the objective is to work and try to take Italy back to where it deserves to be.

"I know it's not easy for the fans, but especially for us, because only we know how much it means to us to play in a competition like the World Cup.

"So we'll give everything to bring Italy back to where it deserves to be. We have a great responsibility because history says that Italy should always be there. History has taught us that. So we have to bring Italy back to where it belongs."

Yes, Italy belongs at the top table. But it has been far off the level for some time. The latest World Cup disaster was the latest in a long line of slippery slopes since they reached the top of the world in 2006.

Twenty years later, that penalty shoot-out win over France is still Italy's last appearance in a World Cup knockout game. They have just won just one World Cup match since then - the 2-1 victory over England in Brazil 2014.

Yes, there was the successful European Championships campaign of 2012 that saw Italy reach the final. But since those days, Italy have not been the same. And there are multiple reasons for it.

Italy have not been able to replicate the world-class talent they once possessed. The World Cup-winning side of 20 years ago had the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Gattuso and Alessandro Del Piero.