To say Inter Milan coach Walter Mazzarri is living on borrowed time as his side take on Saint-Etienne in the Europa League on Thursday is little short of an understatement.
The 0-0 draw between the sides in Italy last time out may have left Inter comfortably top of Group F with seven points, but the calls for Mazzarri's head gathered force again at the weekend after a 2-0 away league defeat at struggling Parma.
Even club president Erick Thohir appears to have lost patience with the former Napoli coach.
Having thrown his weight behind the coach for much of a dismal start to the season, Thohir gave the strongest signal yet that Mazzarri's job was hanging in the balance amid speculation that Roberto Mancini is ready to take over.
Thohir said: "We have to analyse the situation of the coach in as fair a way as possible.
"We'll see over the next two games, but changing our coach in the middle of the season is never a good solution. We want to give him another opportunity."
Italy's last Champions League winners, in 2010, Inter have not conceded a goal in this year's Europa League campaign, but will come up against another tight defence, as Saint-Etienne have managed three goalless draws in their fist three group matches to trail Inter by four points.
There are no such worries for Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella, though, as his side entertain PAOK of Greece in Group K, expecting to extend their 100 percent start to the group and ensure qualification for the knockout stages.
Fiorentina won 1-0 in Greece last time out but were dealt a major blow when Italy under-21 striker Federico Bernardeschi broke his ankle in training and is expected to be out of action until well into 2015.
- Tense relations -
In Group C, Tottenham Hotspur, whose 5-1 victory over Asteras Tripolis in London two weeks ago was celebrated for Erik Lamela's extraordinary 'rabona' goal, which has gone viral on the Internet, may not find the trip to Greece such a comfortable outing.
Asteras have yet to lose a home match in three seasons in European club competition, winning four and drawing three. Ominously for Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham, those four victories, all by two-goal margins, have come in their last four fixtures.
Spurs are unbeaten in their last three away European games, but have never won in Greece against local opposition in three attempts.
The tense relations between Sparta Prague and Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava resume in the Czech capital when they play their return match in Group I after crowd trouble marred the first game.
Sparta won that game 3-0 but were fined heavily for the behaviour of a dozen of their fans who climbed a barrier to attack home supporters, who spilled on to the pitch, leading to a delay of some 40 minutes.
Astra Giurgiu will look to maintain the unbeaten home record of Romanian clubs against Scottish opposition when they take on Celtic in Group D.
Beaten 2-1 in Glasgow, Astra have lost their last four European games, with their 5-1 opening defeat at Dinamo Zagreb their worst European result to date.
But Celtic are without a European away win in three games since beating KR ReykjavÃk 1-0 in their opening away trip of the season in the qualifiers for the Champions League.
French side Lille, held 0-0 at home by Everton in Group H, travel to the north-west of England, which has not been a happy hunting ground for them in the past.
They have not scored in four of their five games in England and the last time they played on Merseyside, they lost 3-0 to Livepool in the 2009/10 Europa League.
They are currently without a win in six European fixtures, drawing four and losing two, since starting the campaign with a 2-0 success at Grasshopper Zurich in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.
Source: AFP
