Italy World Cup winner Marco Materazzi has scoffed at pundits who dare to compare Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho.
Materazzi, who worked under both managers at Inter Milan, said that the Real Madrid boss' mental strength paled in comparison to Mourinho, who was let go from Chelsea this week.
"Benitez was afraid of his own shadow. He was jealous of the memory of [Jose] Mourinho," Materazzi said, according to FourFourTwo.
"I had a booth with photos of my successes and Benitez forced me to take them down.
"After we won the [2010 Champions League] final at the Bernabeu, I said to Mou, 'You'll leave us with Benitez. I will never forgive you.'"
Benitez did indeed succeed Mourinho at Inter, but only lasted six months in the Nerazzurri dugout before being replaced by Leonardo in December 2010.
"When Leonardo [came in], a smart coach, we were 16 points behind first place and we still managed to win another Scudetto," Materazzi said.
"Mou remains the world's best. The crisis of the third year is nonsense.
"At Porto, he won the Champions League in his third season, the first time at Chelsea he was fired in September, which was too soon and with Real Madrid he reached a Champions League semifinal and the Copa del Rey final.
"If he had stayed [at Inter], we would have won everything; the league, the Europeans Super Cup and with the Champions League you never know."