Italian journalist Mario Sconcerti believes that midfielder Marcelo Brozovic was at the heart of Inter’s 2-0 Champions League group stage win over Viktoria Plzen.

Writing in his column in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, Sconcerti praised the 29-year-old for leading the team by dictating the tempo, whilst he also gave the view that Denzel Dumfries looked back to his best with his display down the right.

Brozovic had the kind of match that fans have become used to from him based on the past couple seasons, regularly available for teammates and judicious with his use of the ball.

Inter will not have taken any kind of performance or result for granted against a tough and physical Plzen team, but Brozovic was one of the key reasons why the match looked relatively straightforward and one-sided as he controlled the flow of the match in the centre of the pitch all game long.

“Inter deserve credit for speeding up their game,” Sconcerti writes of the victory, “in the short term but also in the search for space in behind. Basically the match they had to play.”

“It wasn’t exceptional but it was basically what they had to do,” he continues. “They dominated the match, with Dzeko the point of the spear and Brozovic leading them through it, he looks to be putting his August to forget behind him.”

“It was also a sort of comeback for Dumfries,” he adds, “who didn’t have an opponent as dangerous on the dribble as Sane or Vlasic to worry about and found form.”