Croatia FIFA World Cup Star To Be Benched In Inter Milan Vs Juventus Coppa Italia Semifinal Second Leg | OneFootball

Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic is set to drop to the bench in this evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal second leg match against Juventus.

This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who report that Hakan Calhanoglu will be the player to start at the base of a midfield trio alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolo Barella.

Last season it would have been virtually unthinkable to have seen Brozovic benched in one of the most important matches of Inter’s season.

However, this has been in many senses an anomalous season for the 30-year-old, who has found himself more and more out in the cold as his campaign has gotten derailed by a couple long-term muscle injuries.

In the meantime, there is the fact that Calhanoglu has somewhat unexpectedly emerged as a starting-quality option in the deep-lying midfield position during the periods where Brozovic has been out injured.

Whilst the Croat got his chance during a period where Calhanoglu had been out injured, perhaps a bit ironically, and acquitted himself well in the first leg against Juventus and in the Champions League against Benfica, Calhanoglu now appears to be first choice in the position.

Against Empoli over the weekend, both of Brozovic and Calhanoglu started, with Brozovic playing as the regista and Calhanoglu playing in the left-sided role that had been customary for him last season.

However, against Juventus the Gazzetta reports that former AC Milan midfielder Calhanoglu is set to move back to the base of midfield, with Mkhitaryan and Barella coming back into the team after being given a rest, meaning Brozovic is set to drop to the bench.

The Croat could very well still be an option off the bench however.

The Gazzetta’s complete predicted starting eleven is as follows:

Inter (3-5-2): Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Dzeko, Lautaro.