Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic is now finding it increasingly hard to get back into the team due to the unexpected fitness levels that have seen teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan start for the team week in and week out.

This is highlighted in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who note that the 30-year-old is at risk of being frozen out as Mkhitaryan is not giving the coach any reason to break up what has become the first-choice trio.

Brozovic had been widely reported as a candidate to start for Inter against Lecce, whilst it always looked likely that Nicolo Barella would come back into the starting eleven from the match against Bologna the previous weekend.

Mkhitaryan always looked to be a fairly logical candidate to make way for Barella rather than the Croat, particularly given that the former Roma and Arsenal midfielder has been everpresent in the starting lineup since the return from the winter break and could use a rest.

However, coach Simone Inzaghi instead decided to start the Armenian yet again.

The coach’s decision was vindicated, as Mkhitaryan put in a good performance that showed no signs of fatigue, and opened the scoring in the Nerazzurri’s 2-0 victory.

Behind the scenes, the 34-year-old is impressing everyone with just how high his fitness levels are even when he is playing constantly amid the team’s gruelling fixture list.

The consequences for Brozovic, combined with the fact that Hakan Calhanoglu has been excelling in the deep-lying playmaker role and Nicolo Barella is also virtually undroppable in big matches, are that a player once deemed to be completely indispensable, is now finding himself sitting on the bench more and more.