Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu is not likely to start against Benfica in the second leg of the Nerazzurri’s Champions League quarterfinal tie next week.

This according to today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who report that even with the 29-year-old being back fit, Marcelo Brozovic is likely to be the player to start at the base of midfield in Wedneday’s evening’s match at the San Siro.

Calhanoglu is back in full training for Inter, in a big boost for coach Simone Inzaghi who is going to need to get as much as he can out of his entire squad in the packed run-in schedule over the next couple months.

The Turk could even be fit to make an appearance against Monza in tomorrow evening’s Serie A match, although it would be at the discretion of Inzaghi based on what the coach sees in training.

In any event, even if Calhanoglu were to play in tomorrow evening’s match, it would certainly only be a second-half cameo appearance from the bench, with the aim of starting to get playing time in his legs so that he can be ready to play a more prominent role in future matches.

There had been some suggestions that the aim could even be to have the 29-year-old ready for next Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Benfica.

However, this looks to be unlikely particularly considering the quality of Brozovic’s performance in the first leg.

Whilst the Croat has not been at his best this season in what has been a very injury-disrupted campaign, he certainly gave a good account of himself at the Estadio da Luz.

Accordingly, it looks as though there would be little reason to risk Calhanoglu in the second leg of the tie against the Portuguese team at the San Siro, at least from the start.