Soccer:Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti had called on his team to avoid another "load of cabbage" in the Champions League, but last night's defeat at Werder Bremen piled more pressure on the current Italian crop.
The holders, who had already qualified for the last 16 albeit unconvincingly, were embarrassed 3-0 by eliminated Werder and now head to the Club World Cup in UAE desperate for success to give coach Rafael Benitez some respite.
"The Club World Cup is the aim, now everything changes, the mentality changes," Benitez said having lost his seventh game of the season in all competitions.
His nervous and disjointed Inter look a completely different side from the Jose Mourinho vintage of 2009/10, which won the Serie A title, Champions League and Italian Cup and lost just seven games all season.
Injuries have robbed Benitez of a consistent lineup and formation and the Spaniard also fielded a second string side in Germany with qualification assured.
Last season's top scorer Diego Milito could return for the Club World Cup after over a month out injured but even he looked off form earlier in the campaign and the purchase of a striker in January looks certain.
The Nerazzurri are fifth in Serie A after a 3-1 weekend defeat at Lazio left them 10 points behind leaders AC Milan and making a sixth successive scudetto start to look very unlikely.
Benitez struggled in his final season at Liverpool and his troubles have followed him to Italy. Moratti, known for a lack of patience when things do not goInter's way, has backed Benitez but two defeats in a row have put the Spaniard on the back foot again.
The sunshine of Abu Dhabi at the World Club Cup may be a welcome break from Milan's wintry temperatures, but for Benitez the heat is very much on.