Abu Dhabi: European Champions League winners Inter Milan arrive here today for the Fifa Club World Cup but coach Rafael Benitez will be under tremendous pressure after club chairman Massimo Moratti fired a warning to the former Liverpool boss.
Inter Milan, who lost their last Serie A league match 1-3 to Lazio, were outclassed 0-3 by Werder Bremen and prompted Moratti to dangle the sword over Benitez's head.
"I don't intend to cause any problems before or during the Club World Cup, we'll see afterwards," Moratti said after the loss to Werder Bremen.
"Benitez must show character because you can't expect to win a Club World Cup without it. I'm a bit upset about yesterday's defeat but I haven't said anything to the players," he said in Rome on yesterday.
"I had this feeling we might lose but not like that. When you lose a game you feel betrayed — not that I think the players did it on purpose, just that sometimes we lack the character needed to overcome certain obstacles," Moratti said on the club's website.
"Now we have to pick ourselves up because we have an important objective to reach. Psychologically we could sense the Club World Cup was on the horizon and we were more cautious than usual. The players need a lot of psychological support now to help them get back to play the way they're used to," the Inter Milan boss said.
