Mourinho's shadow looms large over under-pressure Spalletti at Inter

The Nerazzurri coach was already under fire after a Champions League exit, so the treble-winner's sudden availability has only ramped up the pressure

Given food and calcio are such staples of Italian culture, it is perhaps unsurprising that the lexicon of one is sometimes borrowed by the other for metaphorical purposes.

'Non mangia il panettone' ('He's not eating panettone') is perhaps the most famous example in the world of football, an ominous prediction that a coach is in such a perilous position that he is unlikely to still be in a job when he sits down for his Christmas dinner to enjoy the traditional festive dessert.

Luckily for Luciano Spalletti, he should still be Inter coach when he…