Inter Milan midfielders Nicolo Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are fresh and ready for an intense midfield battle against Napoli.

This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews. They note that they are the two Inter players who’ve covered the most ground this season.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi left a number of big names out of the starting eleven in Wednesday evening’s Champions League clash with Arsenal.

Two of the most notable absentees from the lineup were in midfield.

On the one hand, Hakan Calhanoglu made his return to the starting eleven at the base of Inter’s midfield.

But playing alongside the Turk were Piotr Zielinski and Davide Frattesi. Hardly poor options, but not the first-choice starters.

For a couple of seasons now, Barella and Mkhitaryan have formed Inter’s first-choice midfield trio along with Calhanoglu.

But they did not start on Wednesday. Rather, both came off the bench during the second half to help Inter see out their 1-0 win.

Barella & Mkhitaryan Ready For Intense Midfield Battle Vs Napoli

It is not hard to understand why Inter coach Inzaghi decided to opt for significant squad rotation on Wednesday.

The Nerazzurri coach also has Sunday’s top of the table Serie A clash with Napoli to think about.

So keeping some of the players he intends to start in that match fresh was an important consideration for the Inter coach.

In midfield, there was a particular need to think about the energy levels of the starters.

The match against Napoli on Sunday evening is sure to be a hugely physically demanding contest.

And the midfield will be the area where it is most fiercely contested.

This season, Barella has been the player who has covered the most ground for Inter per match on average. He has averaged 10.632 km per match.

And Mkhitaryan is just behind Barella. The former Manchester United and Arsenal midfielder has covered on average 10.582 km per match.

That is a testament to the amount of work that the box-to-box players have to get through in order to keep Inter’s 3-5-2 shape ticking.

And therefore, Inzaghi decided to rest Barella and Mkhitaryan from the start on Wednesday.