The Inter great did not hold back in his views of the Spaniard, saying he is not of the calibre to be Real Madrid boss

Marco Materazzi has given a damning assessment of Rafael Benitez, calling the under-fire Real Madrid coach "scared of his own shadow" and jealous of Jose Mourinho.

The World Cup winner spent half a season under Benitez at Inter in 2010 after the latter took over from Mourinho - a period in which he clashed with the defender and other key members of the Nerazzurri dressing room before being fired.

Benitez subsequently led Chelsea and Napoli before finding himself at the Bernabeu this summer, but Materazzi strongly feels the trainer does not have the courage to lead a club the size of Madrid.

"Benitez was afraid of his own shadow. He was jealous of the memory of Mourinho," Materazzi told La Repubblica.

"I had a booth with photos of my successes and Benitez forced me to take them down.

"After we won the [2010 Champions League] final at the Bernabeu, I said to Mou, 'You're an a**hole, you'll leave us with Benitez. I will never forgive you.'"

Materazzi said there was simply no comparing Benitez and Mourinho, the Portuguese whom he still rates highly despite his sacking from Chelsea on Thursday.

"Mou remains the world's best. The crisis of the third year is nonsense," the Italian added.

"At Porto, he won the Champions League in his third season, the first time at Chelsea he was fired in September, which was too soon and with Real Madrid he reached a Champions League semi-final and the Copa del Rey final.

"If he had started [at Inter], we would have won everything; the league, the Europeans Super Cup and with the Champions League you never know."