ROME (REUTERS) - AS Roma sacked their coach Rudi Garcia on Wednesday, the Italian Serie A team said in a statement on its website.

"On my behalf and on that of all AS Roma, I want to thank Rudi Garcia for the important work he has done since he arrived," club president James Pallotta said in the statement.

"We have had positive times together, but we think this is the right moment to change," he said.

After briefly going to the top of Serie A early this season, Roma have had a string of poor results and only won one of their last 10 matches.

The club did not say who would succeed the Frenchman, who signed up as coach in June 2013.

Roma now lie fifth in Serie A, seven points adrift of leaders Napoli, and were eliminated from the Italian Cup last month by Serie B team Spezia.

They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League despite a 6-1 drubbing by Barcelona in the group stage in which they won just six points. But they face a daunting two-legged tie against 10-time champions Real Madrid.