Inter coach Mourinho sees no easy draw in last 16

Inter coach Mourinho sees no easy draw in last 16 Inter coach Jose Mourinho said his side faced a tough task in the Champions League last 16 whoever they draw after the Serie A leaders reached the knock-out stages with a 2-0 win over Rubin Kazan on Wednesday night.

Goals from Samuel Eto'o and Mario Balotelli meant Inter finished second in Group F and so will face one of the group winners in February and March's first knock-out round, although they cannot meet fellow Italians Fiorentina.

"We know the English have an intensity in their play completely different to ours. We know all about the Spanish sides from La Liga," Mourinho told a news conference.

"Bordeaux have won a group with Juventus and Bayern Munich and play with pace, intensity and young players. It will be a difficult draw."

Last season, Mourinho declared he wanted to be drawn against Manchester United in the last 16 and had his wish granted, only for the Red Devils to knock Inter out of the competition.

"When last year I said I would have preferred to face Manchester United, I did not say that because they were European champions," said Mourinho, "but because it would have given my team an extra motivation to face such a side.

"This year we cannot face Barcelona. But there are two top English clubs, then there's Real Madrid and Sevilla, who some may consider a weaker team but I believe it is a very difficult side to face.

"I really don't know which one I would prefer."

Some media reports and pundits had said the Portuguese could have been sacked if Inter, long starved of success in Europe, had lost to the Russians and gone out of the Champions League.

"Journalists don't decide, ex-players don't decide. If someone at the club with the authority decides, that's fine with me," he said after playing three upfront in a bold bid to win.

"We have played with an attacking line-up, it would have been difficult to play with a more offensive side.

"It seems a normal and correct result.

"This is the merit of the entire squad," Mourinho added. "From our goalkeeper Julio Cesar to our striker Mario Balotelli, to those players that were on the bench and those that watched the game from the stands.

"The group has been able to stick together and suffer together."

Rubin coach Kurban Berdyev, whose team now drop into the Europa League, bemoaned the absence of the injured Roman Sharonov and Alexander Bukharov among others.

"All of them are good players. To be without them made our task harder. Some of our players tonight lacked experience," he said.

"At start of the second half we started to be more decisive, I can't say I am dissatisfied with the performance, just the result."