Juventus sack club legend Pirlo as manager

Juventus have sacked Andrea Pirlo, who is a club legend, after an underwhelming first season as manager.

A statement on the club’s website read: “Thank you, Andrea."

“These are the first words that all of us need to say at the end of this special experience together.

“A few months ago, Andrea Pirlo, an icon of world football, began his new adventure, his first as a coach.

“To do this, first of all, it takes courage, as well as awareness of one’s own means, especially in a period marked by thousands of difficulties, with the world forced by the pandemic to reinvent its own rules day after day.

“Pirlo has just begun the first steps of what will no doubt become a brilliant career as a coach. An adventure of transformation, seeking, and often managing, to bring his ideas and his experience as a champion on the pitch from the ‘other side’ of the fence.”

Pirlo, a three-time Serie A winner as a player for Juve, was hired in his first senior management role at the beginning of the 2020-21 season after Maurizio Sarri left following Bianconeri’s elimination in the Champions League round of 16 to Lyon.

He guided Juventus to success in the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana, but his failure in Champions League and Serie A has cost him his first coaching job.