Sevilla fire manager Diego Alonso during struggling 2023-24 season
Diego Alonso, manager of Sevilla, looks on during the UEFA Champions League group game against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in London, England, November 8, 2023. /CFP
Diego Alonso, manager of Sevilla, looks on during the UEFA Champions League group game against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in London, England, November 8, 2023. /CFP
La Liga’s Sevilla have fired their manager Diego Alonso, the club announced on Saturday.
“We would like to communicate that Diego Alonso has been relieved of his duties as first-team head coach. We thank him for his efforts and wish him the best for the future,” Sevilla said in a statement.
Before Alonso took over Sevilla, he managed the Uruguayan national team for a year before being sacked for failing to lead the team out of the group stage at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022. When he replaced Jose Luis Mendilibar in Sevilla in October, the club was in the 14th place in La Liga.
Having played 14 games since then, Sevilla won only two of them, both in the Copa del Rey. Other than that, the club lost all of their four UEFA Champions League games in Group B and exited the tournament as the fourth of the group, meaning that they failed to go to the UEFA Europa League of which they are the reigning champions.
Players of Sevilla look on in the La Liga game against Getafe at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain, December 16, 2023. /CFP
Players of Sevilla look on in the La Liga game against Getafe at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain, December 16, 2023. /CFP
Sevilla were winless under Alonso in La Liga as well. Five of those eight games ended as draws and the club suffered two straight losses recently, to RCD Mallorca 1-0 and to Getafe 3-0. They have dropped to the 16th on the standings table with 13 points, the same as Real Club Celta de Vigo behind and Cadiz in the relegation zone.
Sevilla have been competing in La Liga since the 2001-02 season and they came in fourth in three straight campaigns between 2019 and 2022. The last time they were relegated to the Segunda Division was in the 1999-00 season when they finished last of all 20 teams.
“From tomorrow, we will try to work to incorporate a coach as soon as possible for the Granada game,” Sevilla’s sporting director Victor Orta said. “Now we only think about getting back to winning ways this team that tries and doesn’t quite find the results. We thank Diego for his work, with extreme honesty and a good quality of work. The results have not been given and only this language is understood. We wish him all the luck in the world and we’re already working to try and win Tuesday’s game.”
Leave a Comment