Juventus sacked coach Maurizio Sarri on Saturday after the Italian club’s Champions League last 16 exit to Lyon.
“Maurizio Sarri has been relieved of his post as coach of the first team,” the nine-time reigning Serie A champions said in a statement.
Sarri, 61, had replaced Massimiliano Allegri last summer, after leading Chelsea to success in the Europa League.
“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,” the team said.
The Scudetto was the first league title for Sarri in his 30-year coaching career, extending a record run in Turin which Antonio Conte started with three titles from 2012 and Allegri continued with the following five.
But the former Napoli boss paid for the club’s failure on the European stage. “Sarri Out!” headlined Turin sports daily Tuttosport, with Corriere Dello Sport saying: “Adieu Maurizio.”
Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi, Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane and former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino have been touted as possible successors.
Sarri was hired to give Juventus a more flamboyant edge but struggled to impose his so-called Sarri-ball high-tempo passing game on the Turin side.
He had been under pressure since his side lost to Napoli on penalties in the final of the Coppa Italia in June.
Sarri, who never played football professionally, began coaching amateur teams back in the 1990s, managing to combine his hobby with a banking career that took him to the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
He coached 16 different sides in the lower division of the Italian league before reaching Serie A with Empoli in 2014.
Known as Mr 33 because he reputedly thought up 33 different plans for setpieces, Sarri joined Napoli in 2016 and turned them into the side most likely to threaten Juve’s dominance.
He then spent one season at Chelsea, winning the Europa League with the London side, before joining Juventus.