Essentially frozen out of the Inter team for the entire start of the season, Joao Mario was called by Luciano Spalletti against Lazio and yesterday against Genoa to make a contribution, and the Portuguese midfielder delivered.

Yesterday, the former West Ham loanee scored his first goal of the season and added two assists to help his team thrash Genoa 5-0 at the San Siro and secure a 7th consecutive Serie A team, and with Radja Nainggolan still not being at 100%, Mario could be given a chance even in the mid-week Champions League clash against Barcelona.

The player's confidence is definitely sky-high at the moment, which might seem paradoxical to many, considering the fact that just a couple of months ago he criticized Inter and Serie A as a whole and encouraged young players not to move to Italy.

Several months later and Joao Mario could still prove to be an important player for Luciano Spalletti. Signed for 40 million euros + 5 million in bonuses, he is the club's second most expensive signing in history after Christian Vieri, and the 25-year-old has definitely not delivered accordingly to this price.

But all could be forgotten very soon, perhaps even on Tuesday at the San Siro, when Inter face-off with Barcelona in a match that could prove to be decisive for qualification to the next round. And if Mario performs as he did against Genoa, perhaps he can give his team a hand in the right direction. It will be up to Luciano Spalletti to choose the right men to face the Blaugrana, but with confidence high, Joao Mario could just be the key to unlocking the match.