Inter Milan And Simone Inzaghi At Crossroads Ahead Of Barcelona Clash

Inter Milan are teetering on the brink of full-blown crisis as they prepare for the visit of Barcelona to the San Siro, which will likely have a huge bearing on their chances of making the knockout stages of the Champions League. Saturday's home defeat at the hands of Roma, guided by Inter legend Jose Mourinho no less, left Simone Inzaghi's side eight points off the pace in the Serie A title race and wondering what shape their season will take. It was their fourth loss of the league season and dreadful preparation for the Tuesday's showdown at the San Siro, where Inter and Barca will tussle for second place in Group C.

Both teams are three points behind leaders Bayern Munich and the upcoming double-header will decide whether their European adventure continues as Bayern have the chance to make the last 16 with their two games with bottom side Viktoria Plzen.

Defeat would leave Inter and Inzaghi way off their objectives for the season and increase the dissenting voices around the coach despite recent assurances from the club that his job is not at risk.

Inter have already lost the same number of league matches as in the whole of last season, when they conceded their Serie A crown on the final day of the campaign following a thrilling battle with local rivals AC Milan.

As it stands Inter will have a battle on their hands to qualify for the Champions League next season as a host of teams have improved and made Italy's top flight more competitive than it has been in years.

"Us coaches are always at risk, every week," Inzaghi told reporters after a defeat which highlighted flaws that have begun to characterise their performances.

- Inzaghi 'worried' -Inzaghi insisted that Saturday's was their best performance of the season,