Inter’s Mazzarri hoping for reprieve against St Etienne

PARIS: 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 St 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.

Fixtures: Groups A-F (kick-off 1800 GMT unless stated):

Group ‘A’: FC Zurich v Villarreal; Apollon Limassol v Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Group ‘B’: HJK Helsinki v Torino; FC Copenhagen v Club Brugge.

Group ‘C’: Asteras Tripolis v Tottenham Hotspur; Besiktas v Partizan Belgrade.

Group ‘D’: FC Astra v Celtic; Dinamo Zagreb v Salzburg.

Group ‘E’: Dynamo Moscow v Estoril (1700 GMT); Panathinaikos v PSV Eindhoven.

Group ‘F’: Qarabag v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (1700 GMT); St Etienne v Inter Milan.

Groups G-L (kick-offs 2005 GMT):

Group ‘G’: Feyenoord v Rijeka; Sevilla v Standard Liege.

Group ‘H’: VfL Wolfsburg v FC Krasnodar; Everton v Lille.

Group ‘I’: Sparta Prague v Slovan Bratislava; Napoli v Young Boys.

Group ‘J’: Dynamo Kiev v Aalborg BK; Rio Ave v Steaua Bucharest.