TURIN • Juventus have sacked coach Maurizio Sarri after just one season in charge, following the team's elimination from the Champions League in the round of 16, the Turin club said in a statement.

"Juventus Football Club announces that Maurizio Sarri has been relieved of his post as coach of the first team," it said yesterday.

"The club would like to thank the coach for having written a new page in Juventus' history with the victory of the ninth-consecutive championship, the culmination of a personal journey that led him to climb all the divisions of Italian football."

Sarri was dismissed despite leading Juve to the Serie A title last month, their ninth in a row.

The Italian had been under pressure since his team lost to Napoli on penalties in the final of the Coppa Italia in June.

Juve have become so dominant in Serie A in the last decade that winning the domestic league is regarded as an obligation, while the Champions League - which the side have not won since their second title in 1996 - is regarded as their main target. They have been runners-up seven times, including twice in the last five years.

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's double in a home 2-1 win on Friday, Juve fell 2-2 on aggregate by away goals to French Ligue 1 side Lyon in Europe's top club competition.

"I am very bitter, I understand how much this competition is cursed for Juve," said Sarri, who had coached 16 different sides in the lower divisions of the Italian league, after the match.

Despite winning the Serie A title, Sarri's team have not managed to convince the critics since he replaced Massimiliano Allegri last season, after leading Chelsea to success in the Europa League.

Their failure to even match last season's quarter-final performance in the Champions League had added to the pressure on the 61-year-old, who had remained defiant before he was axed yesterday.

"I don't think directors of a top-level club will make a decision based on one match," he insisted.

"They are going to evaluate the whole season. I find this kind of question offensive. I have a contract, I'll respect it."

Italian news outlet SportItalia reported that Mauricio Pochettino, out of a job since he was dismissed by Tottenham last November, is the favourite to succeed Sarri.

Former Juve bosses Allegri and Antonio Conte have also been linked with the job in recent weeks, alongside club legends Andrea Pirlo and Zinedine Zidane, the Real Madrid coach.

Simone Inzaghi is also believed to be in the running. The former Italian international guided Lazio back into the Champions League.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS