Juventus sack Pirlo after one season

Coach calls his experience with deposed Italian champions as ‘intense, complicated’

ROME:

Juventus have sacked coach Andrea Pirlo after a single season in charge, the deposed Italian champions announced on Friday.

The club released a statement headlined "Good Luck, Andrea Pirlo" after a season in which Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates lost the Serie A title to Inter Milan and were eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League.

"Pirlo has just begun the first steps of what will no doubt become a brilliant career as a coach," Juventus' statement read.

"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."

The former midfielder, who enjoyed trophy-laden spells as a player at AC Milan and Juve, led the Turin giants to the Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup titles in his brief reign.

But Juve fell well short of their main goal of winning a first Champions League since 1996, being dumped out by Porto, and saw their bid for a 10th straight Scudetto finish with a whimper.

Juventus needed a victory at Bologna on the final day of the campaign, coupled with a slip-up from Napoli, just to finish in the top four and qualify for next season's Champions League.

"My first season as a manager has ended," Pirlo said on Instagram. "It has been an intense, complicated but in any case wonderful year.

"When I was called by Juventus I never thought about the risk I was taking, although it was quite evident. Respect for the colours of this shirt and the desire to get involved at the highest level for the project that was proposed to me prevailed.

"If I had to go back I would make exactly the same choice."

Pirlo's only previous coaching job had been with the Juve youth team.

"For the courage, the dedication, the passion with which he demonstrated every day, our thanks go to the Maestro, the coach and to Andrea, that really comes from the heart," Juventus added.