Quote:Inter Milan have parted company with manager Rafael Benitez just over six months after appointing the Spaniard.

The move follows Benitez asking for backing from the board to buy players following the Serie A side's Club World Cup win over TP Mazembe last Saturday.

A statement on Inter's website said "a mutually satisfactory agreement for the early termination of his [Benitez's] contract" had been agreed.

Benitez took over from Jose Mourinho at the San Siro in June.

Mourinho, who left for Real Madrid, led Inter to the Serie A title, the Italian Cup and the Champions League glory last season and left his successor with a hard act to follow.

Benitez was named Inter manager a week after leaving Liverpool on 3 June and, although he had injuries to key players to contend with, the 50-year-old's exploits have not helped his cause.

Inter are 13 points behind Serie A leaders and arch-rivals AC Milan and struggling for form.

Although they have two games in hand on the teams above them in the league table, the Nerazzurri are languishing in seventh place having won only six of their 15 league games.

In defence of their Champions League crown, Inter could only finish as group runners-up behind Tottenham to leave them facing a difficult tie against Bayern Munich in the last 16.

Even though Inter won the Club World Cup by beating TP Mazembe, it did not leave Benitez in a strong enough position to survive his outburst after the match.

Sir Alex Ferguson has set his sights on capitalizing on Chelsea's slump after suggesting they have only themselves to blame.



The Man Utd manager believes the Premier League champions left themselves vulnerable after selling Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, as well as releasing Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti, and bringing in only two new signings, Ramires and Yossi Benayoun.

United, who have set a club record of being unbeaten in their first 16 league matches, have taken advantage of Chelsea's run of only one win in their past seven games to move three points clear of Carlo Ancelotti's team at the top of the table, with a game in hand, going into Sunday's meeting at Stamford Bridge.

Ferguson said: "Ballack's contract came to an end. Belletti's contract came to an end. They have been replacing these players with younger ones such as [Danny] Sturridge and the young boy [Josh] McEachran. So maybe that's why their results have been erratic. Their plan was always to start introducing younger players and I think that's a good thing but it can backfire if you get injuries."

Chelsea have slipped to fourth, having been without Frank Lampard for almost all of the season, lost John Terry for various games because of recurrent injury problems, and had to wait for Didier Drogba to recover from malaria. Benayoun is out until April with a snapped achilles and José Bosingwa is now missing with a hamstring injury, having only recently returned from a year on the sidelines.

Man Utd have also had considerable injury problems – at one point they were unable to call upon 10 players – but Ferguson believes he is benefiting from having a larger squad now Chelsea have reduced their numbers. Eighteen different players have scored for United this season and Ferguson, speaking about Chelsea, added: "You need big squads these days because the number of matches and the intensity of matches does produce injuries. There's no question that having a big squad helps."

Ferguson believes his side have the edge over their rivals in terms of experience. "We've got good players and they have all had big-game experience for years now. It's not as if it is new to them. Their experience is very important and the desire is still there with this club. All our players have good desire to win matches." Yet United have not won at Stamford Bridge since a 3-0 victory in April 2002, a run comprising five defeats and four draws in all competitions. They have scored only four goals in those matches, conceding 11, but Ferguson remains bullish.

"We used to have a terrific record at Chelsea . We haven't won there for eight years (check)correct .. but it's a big game for us and we'll be ready for it. We couldn't get there sooner."

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Source: guardian.co.uk

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