Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho has launched a new attack on Claudio Ranieri, branding the Roma coach "a loser". Ranieri complained yesterday that Mou fired up Inter by giving them "a siege mentality, effectively setting off ticking time bombs" in Italian football.

"Bearing in mind that on Wednesday night Roma should've ended the Coppa Italia Final with six men on the field, seeing as Philippe Mexes, Francesco Totti, Rodrigo Taddei and Nicolas Burdisso did what was necessary to get sent off, today there was talk of how to motivate players," read Mourinho's statement on the official Inter website.

"You do it every day by working with the squad, session after session. You certainly don't do it by showing the team a film before a Cup Final. Players are professionals, they should not be treated like children.

"We preferred to work on the field and study Roma carefully to find their weak points. If before a match I made my team watch 'Gladiator,' they'd start laughing or call the doctor asking if I was ill."

He also stated: "I never said I was a phenomenon, but it's certainly not my fault if in 2004, after coming to Chelsea and asking why Ranieri was replaced, I was told they wanted to win and it was never going to happen with him.

"It is really not my fault if he was considered a loser at Chelsea."