ROME (AFP) - Roberto Mancini was sacked as coach of Serie A champions Inter Milan on Thursday opening the way for Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho to replace him.

The 43-year-old former Italy international striker, who coached Inter to three successive titles, is favoured to take over at English Premiership giants Chelsea and is largely expected to be replaced by Mourinho.

Inter, who won the first of their three successive titles in 2006 only because those above them were either demoted or deducted points over the match-fixing scandal, released a terse statement about his sacking.

"Inter Milan informed Roberto Mancini that he had been relieved of his role as coach of the team, especially because of his comments that he was not going to stay after the end of the season following the Inter Milan v Liverpool Champions League match on March 11," the statement read.

Mancini, however, had rescinded those comments the following day declaring that he had made them in the heat of the moment following Inter's elimination from the Champions League in humiliating fashion losing 3-0 on aggregate.

However, lending less credibility to Inter's reason for sacking Mancini are the comments by club president Massimo Moratti when he announced that the coach had changed his mind about leaving at the end of the season.

"I've had a talk with Mancini, who confirmed to me that he wanted to stay at Inter even next year and to see out his contract and he wants to win the Champions League next season," Moratti told La Gazzetta dello Sport website on March 12.

"Mancini's words surprised me, I didn't expect it and even less so I believe the people close to him," he had said.

Mourinho, nicknamed 'The Special One' for his guiding Porto to the Champions League title in 2004 and then Chelsea, albeit an expensively assembled side, to two Premiership titles, would not come cheap.

The exit of Mancini has cost Inter dear too as his contract, which runs till 2012, will leave him 24 million euros richer as compensation.

Inter may claim, however, that he is in the wrong for his rash words following the Liverpool match.

Mancini was unable to make Inter into viable Champions League contenders despite the three Serie A titles, of which only the last one was really won on merit.

The first one came in the wake of the match-fixing scandal and the second was brought about after the heavy points deductions or demotion of their main rivals.

Mourinho has been out of work since he was sacked by Chelsea last September.

Mancini's agent Giorgio De Giorgis has said that his client was in sombre mood knowing that he had left Inter.

"Roberto didn't think that it would end like this," De Giorgis told Sportitalia. "Rationally speaking from the outside I understood that something wasn't working.

"But Mancini is very disappointed because his job wasn't done and he could have won more Scudetti and maybe the Champions League. Now Mourinho will arrive and he will just have to repeat what Mancini has achieved in the last few years.

"Looking at Inter's form since January, I believe the pressure from above began to take its toll," he continued.

"And then after the Liverpool game there was an outburst, which maybe Roberto could have avoided. I think he made a mistake then, he shouldn't have told anyone that he was leaving.

"Will he go to Chelsea? Roberto has a great pedigree and there are lots of teams who want his services. Maybe he will take a holiday, but I hope that he will call me tomorrow because it isn't good for a Coach to be out for too long."