Report | Napoli sack Carlo Ancelotti despite Champions League qualification

Napoli have sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti less than three hours after he guided them into the Champions League knockout stages, as reported by BBC. Carlo Ancelotti took charge of Napoli last season when Maurizio Sarri switched Italy for Chelsea in England. In his first season in-charge, the former Real Madrid boss was able to guide the Italians to the second spot in the Scudetto race. However, this season hasn’t gone down well for Ancelotti as his team struggled on many fronts.

The Serie A club had not won in nine games in all competitions until yesterday’s 4-0 win over Genk in the UEFA Champions League. The Italian was in his second season in charge of Napoli but they sit seventh in the league after that poor run. Ancelotti was sacked by the owner and president Aurelio de Laurentiis. The former Bayern Munich manager was under heavy pressure to deliver after a poor run of games and was sandwiched between the war among the players and the President.

De Laurentiis ordered the team to attend a week-long training camp but Ancelotti and his players all returned home. The former Chelsea manager’s sacking means now he is available on the manager’s market as a number of high profile clubs are in search of new managers. Arsenal sacked Unai Emery last month and since then are evaluating potential candidates and Ancelotti could be on their shortlist.

Everton too sacked Marco Silva after the Merseyside derby defeat and want to bring Ancelotti to the Goodison Park. Meanwhile, Gennaro Gattuso, the former AC Milan coach remains a favourite to replace Ancelotti in Naples.