Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 7y

Frank de Boer: 'Brozovic has been punished and he will be pardoned'

Inter Milan coach Frank de Boer has confirmed that Marcelo Brozovic has been punished enough and will return to the squad at the weekend, but not for Thursday night's Europa League clash with Sparta Prague.

The Croatian midfielder has not featured since the first game of the season, due to disciplinary reasons. However, an apology has convinced De Boer to give the 23-year-old another chance, possibly for the trip to Roma on Sunday -- but not before.

"Brozovic has been punished and he will be pardoned," De Boer said at a news conference in the Czech capital on Wednesday. "He needs to get back to work with the team in training and then he will be called up again, maybe for Roma."

De Boer does not want to destabilise his team for a game he says they must win after starting their Europa League campaign with defeat at home to Hapoel Beer-Sheva a fortnight ago.

"We want to win the Europa League," said the Dutch coach.

"There will be changes made tomorrow, but I will still have a strong, balanced team. Both of us have zero points and if we want to continue in this competition, we absolutely have to win.

"It's hard for me to say today how Sparta will play, but I have faith in my lads and I think we'll play a great game."

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