Moratti regrets Benitez downfall

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti said he was disappointed in the manner sacked boss Rafa Benitez departed the club.

Benitez was dismissed by the European champions on Thursday, just six months after suffering a similar fate at English Premier League club Liverpool.

And Moratti said he was disappointed with the way the Spaniard’s time at the San Siro finished.

“I am sorry about how it all ended. However, it was an experience and experiences are always useful,” Moratti told Reuters.

“Also, through this experience we brought home the Italian Supercup and a Clubs’ World Championship title. This puts us in a situation which we can be satisfied with and now we can start all over again.”

Moratti said the motive for sacking the former Liverpool boss was related to Inter’s sub-par results in Serie A this season.

The champions are in seventh place in the league, 13 points behind leaders AC Milan, but Moratti said the writing was on the wall when Benitez made a ‘back me or sack me’ ultimatum to the president.

“Besides (Benitez’s) statements that precipitated things, I was not too satisfied about our results before the final of the Clubs’ World Championship,” Moratti said.

“Adding his statement to this however put an end to my patience and the good sense to keep waiting (for things to improve).”

Former AC Milan boss Leonardo, has emerged as the favourite to fill the absence left by Benitez, but Moratti was not willing to share names of the candidates vying for the job.

“I will tell you when the time comes. All the people we have in mind now are people of experience, nice and good people, intelligent people. Anyway, in due time,” he said.