Juventus Dismiss Pirlo As Manager After Poor Season

Juventus have shown coach Andrea Pirlo the door at the Turin club after one season in charge, the Serie A club confirmed on Friday.

Pirlo was appointed last summer with no prior coaching experience and could only lead reigning Serie A champions Juventus to fourth place this season.

Pirlo played 164 games for Juventus between 2011 and 2015 and won four Serie A titles in Turin after joining AC Milan, with whom he spent most of his career and won two Champions League and two league titles.

He also earned 116 caps for Italy and helped them to win the 2006 World Cup, retiring in 2017 having spent two years in Major League Soccer at New York City FC after leaving Juventus.

A statement on the Juventus website said: "Thanks, Andrea. These are the first words that all of us must pronounce at the end of this special experience lived together.

Thank you for everything, @Pirlo_official!

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) May 28, 2021

"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, as well as our good luck for the future that will surely be a wonderful one."

Pirlo's appointment as Juventus manager was a shock and although he did win the Italian Super Cup and Coppa Italia, it was not enough to keep his job as Massimiliano Allegri is expected to return for a second spell as manager.

Allegri was in charge of Juventus from 2014-19, winning five successive league titles and reaching the Champions League final twice. He is currently without a job.