Inter to bench Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan and call up three Primavera players for Feyenoord | OneFootball

Inter are reportedly set to start without both Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for their Champions League clash against Feyenoord on Wednesday, while Simone Inzaghi could hand opportunities to three Primavera players in a slight injury crisis.

The Nerazzurri will face Feyenoord at De Kuip in the first of their two Champions League round of 16 legs on Wednesday night.

There will be no Federico Dimarco, nor Carlos Augusto, Nicola Zalewski or Matteo Darmian, which means that Alessandro Bastoni is in line to start at left wing-back. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer has resumed training following a fractured thumb, but Josep Martinez is set to start in goal again on Wednesday night.

Inter lost both Dimarco and Calhanoglu at half-time of their 1-1 draw against title challengers Napoli at the weekend. The Italian is set for a spell on the sidelines, but the Turkiye international is not expected to be ruled out for a significant period.

Hakan Calhanoglu of FC Internazionale warms up prior to the Italian Super Cup Semi-Final match between FC Internazionale and Atalanta at Al Awwal Park on January 02, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Abdullah Ahmed/Getty Images)

Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan set for Inter bench against Feyenoord

He is expected to start among the substitutes against Feyenoord on Wednesday. Tuesday’s pre-match reports suggest that Mkhitaryan will also be left out of the starting line-up in order to rest him for Monza in Serie A this weekend.

That means that Kristjan Asllani and Piotr Zielinski are in line to come in and join Nicolo Barella in the starting Nerazzurri midfield.

Piotr Zielinski of FC Internazionale runs with the ball during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Internazionale Milano at BayArena on December 10, 2024 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that there will also be three Primavera players called up to the matchday squad against Feyenoord. With a particular issue at wing-back, Simone Inzaghi is set to call up three youngsters who could cover in that role, namely 20-year-olds Matteo Motta, Mike Aidoo and 19-year-old Daniele Quieto.