BREAKING: Maurizio Sarri sacked as Juventus manager after being knocked out Champions League

Maurizio Sarri has been sacked by Juventus after just one season in charge.

The former Chelsea boss was relieved of his duties after Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League at the hands of Lyon. 

Sarri won Serie A with Juventus this season, delivering the club a ninth successive title. But top brass in Turin have their eye on the Champions League, which Juve haven’t won since 1996.

A statement on the Juve website read: “The club would like to thank the coach for writing a new page in Juventus history with the victory of the ninth consecutive Scudetto, the culmination of a personal journey that led him to climb all the categories of Italian football.

Juventus lost the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Lyon in France, and went out on away goals on Friday, despite winning 2-1 in Turin.

After the match, Sarri said: “I expected less. I thought we put in a great performance this evening. We went behind to a penalty after 10 minutes that could have sent us crazy. We completed the comeback, won the game, created six or seven scoring opportunities.

“The team has revitalised itself over the last few days, and if they weren’t devastated in their confidence by the elimination, I’d be very satisfied with their performance.

“Unfortunately, we went out because of the first leg, in fact the first half of the first leg. It’s a competition that takes no prisoners, as after our great results in the tournament, we are still out.

“I don’t know if you saw PSG-Lyon last week, but Lyon were not as under pressure ever as much as they were in that game. That means we played well and caused them problems.

“We cannot be in top condition at this time of the year. Unfortunately, we’ve done nothing logical at all this year. We had a month at home, some then who could train, others who were in quarantine, it wasn’t simple to get the whole team working together.

“I felt that the team had recharged itself in the right way this evening. Perhaps we were fuelled by nervous energy and mentality more than physical fitness.

“If I take away the huge disappointment at the elimination, then I am very happy with the team this evening, as they showed character and gave their all. If we hadn’t been eliminated, I’d return home happy tonight.”