BERLIN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich have sacked head coach Carlo Ancelotti due to poor performances with immediate effect, the German record champions confirmed in an official statement on Thursday.
One day after Paris Saint Germain eased 3-0 past Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League group stage, the "Bavarians" agreed with coach Ancelotti to part ways.
"The performances of our team did not meet our expectations since the start of the season. The match against Paris clearly showed that we need to draw consequences from this defeat," Bayern's CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a statement.
The 58-year-old Italian coach took the reins from Pep Guardiola in the season 2016-2017 and clinched only the Bundesliga title ever since. Too little for Bayern, who lost to Borussia Dormund in the German Cup semi final and to Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Ancelotti earned a lot of criticism for his personnel decisions as well as for the team's strategy. From six games in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich won only four. The defending champions lost to Hoffenheim and shared surprisingly the spoils with Wolfsburg despite a two-goal lead.
"I would like to thank Carlo for his cooperation. Carlo is my friend and will still be, but we had to make a professional decision in the sense of Bayern Munich. I expect the team to ensure a positive development to achieve our goals this season," Rummenigge said.
Besides Ancelotti all his assistants have been released as well, as former Bayern player and France international Willy Sagnol will take the helm as an interims coach for the moment.
Bayern sit currently on the 3rd place of the Bundesliga standings, with a three-point gap to front-runners Borussia Dortmund. In the Champions League, Bayern occupy the 2nd place of Group B, behind Paris Saint Germain and followed by Celtic and Anderlecht.
The German giants encounter Hertha Berlin at the 7th round in Bundesliga on Sunday.
