Agent denies Balotelli is 'at war' with Mourinho

The agent of Internazionale striker Mario Balotelli has denied reports suggesting that his client is virtually at war with coach Jose Mourinho.

The talented 19-year-old was left out of the squad for the Champions League win at Chelsea, but agent Mino Raiola has played down talk of a total breakdown in the relationship between the forward and Mourinho.

He commented: “There is no war between Mourinho and Balotelli. There is a rapport that certainly needs to grow and improve, but they are not at war.

“Everything Mario does is put under the microscope and the media is going over the top here.

“This is a lad who lives under the spotlight and in my view he needs to get away from that.”

Meanwhile, Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o sees no reason why Internazionale can't go on and win this season's Champions League.

The former Barcelona star scored the crucial goal at Stamford Bridge as Inter beat Chelsea 1-0 to seal their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate success.

As Real Madrid, AC Milan and Sevilla have already been knocked out of the competition at the last-16 stage, Eto'o believes Inter can now be classified as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Madrid in just over two months' time.

He said: "Inter are a great side of champions and when we play at the level we did against Chelsea, we can win in any stadium.

"The coach (Mourinho) told me on Sunday I would be playing in that position. It is a sacrifice for the team that I must make and we are all very happy.

"Wesley (Sneijder) is a very important player. He put two balls there for me. I made a bad decision on the first one, but with the second I just had to put it in the back of the net."