Bayern Munich have sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti after Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, the club announced on Thursday. The Italian, who led Bayern to the Bundesliga title last season and had replaced Pep Guardiola last summer, was dismissed “following an internal analysis”, according to the club’s statement.
Bayern’s loss at the Parc des Princes was the club’s heaviest defeat in the Champions League group stages for 21 years. Early on Thursday, Bayern’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had called it “a very painful defeat”, one that “we have to analyse and after which we’ll have to talk about clearly and draw the consequences because what we saw was not Bayern Munich”.
He added, “It’s important we reverse this curb and that we again present ourselves as Bayern Munich and show that we’re a team that has been all the rage in Europe and Germany and that we’re going to kickstart that again.”
Ancelotti’s assistant Willy Sagnol, former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel and Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann are among the favourites to succeed him, according to The Guardian. Sagnol will take charge of the team as they gear up to face Hertha Berlin on Sunday, the club said.
Ancelotti had a contract with Bayern till June 2019 and is now linked with a return to his former club AC Milan.
With inputs from AFP