AC Milan hero Pioli sacked after trophyless season

(FILES) AC Milans Italian coach Stefano Pioli looks on ahead of the Italian Serie A football match between Fiorentina and AC Milan at the Artemio Franchi Stadium, in Florence on March 30, 2024. – Stefano Pioli has been sacked as head coach of AC Milan two years after guiding them to the Serie A title, the Italian giants announced on May 24, 2024. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

Stefano Pioli has been sacked as head coach of AC Milan two years after guiding them to the Serie A title, the Italian giants announced on Friday.

AC Milan said in a statement that Pioli, who was under contract until 2025, “will be departing after the end of the current season, after having been in charge of the First Team since October 2019”.

The 58-year-old will take his place in the dugout for Milan for the last time on Saturday in the final Serie A match of their campaign against relegated Salernitana.

They will finish second this season but way behind city rivals Inter, who to rub salt into the wounds clinched the title by beating Pioli’s team 2-1 at the end of April.

Pioli was hailed a hero in 2022 after delivering the once dominant force in Italian football their first league title since 2011.

He also guided them to last season’s Champions League semi-finals — the first time they had gone that far since the 2006-2007 campaign — where they lost to Inter.

However, Pioli’s fate was sealed by the failure to mount a serious title challenge to Inter this season as well as an early exit from the Champions League and being subsequently knocked out of the Europa League by Serie A rivals AS Roma.

The fans showed their displeasure at the underwhelming campaign when Milan played Genoa at the San Siro earlier this month.

They unfurled banners demanding