Juventus have sacked Maurizio Sarri following their Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon.
Juve won 2-1 in Turin on Friday but the French side progressed on away goals.
Italian Sarri, 61, was appointed on a three-year contract last summer after one year at Premier League club Chelsea. It was decided that the 61-year-old former Chelsea and Napoli boss is no longer the man to take the club forward, with Juve’s signing of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid making clear that their intention was to win the Champions League after several years of near-misses.
Juventus lost three of their last four league matches to finish only one point clear of Inter Milan in the end.
They were also beaten by Napoli in the Coppa Italia final after football in the country restarted following the coronavirus shutdown.
Juventus are two-time European Cup/Champions League winners but have not lifted the trophy since 1996.
A club statement read: “Juventus announces that Maurizio Sarri has been relieved of his post as coach of the first team.
“The club would like to thank the coach for having written a new page in Juventus’ history with the victory of the ninth-consecutive championship, the culmination of a personal journey that led him to climb all the divisions of Italian football.”
Sarri’s future had been previously called into question despite leading the club to a ninth-successive Scudetto, with the former banker admitting himself that he had been struggling to impose his famous ‘Sarriball’ style on the squad.
Indeed, following the first-leg defeat against Lyon, Sarri stated that his charges had been moving the ball too slow but that he would continue working with his players until “sooner or later this concept will get into their heads”.
Sarri guided Juventus to a ninth straight Serie A title.
