Juventus have appointed former midfielder Andrea Pirlo as their new manager on a two-year contract, following the dismissal of Maurizio Sarri. The Italian champions acted swiftly after their Champions League exit to Lyon on Friday, promoting Pirlo just 10 days after he was named as the club's under-23s manager.
A club statement said: 'Today begins a new chapter of his career in the world of football. As it was said about a week ago: from Maestro to Mister. From today he will be the coach for the Juventus people, as the club has decided to entrust him with the technical leadership of the first team.'
Sarri, who led Juventus to the Serie A title in his first season, paid the price for the Champions League failure. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice against Lyon, but Memphis Depay's penalty proved crucial as the French side secured a surprise victory. Juventus lost four of their 12 matches after the restart before their European exit.
Sarri succeeded Massimiliano Allegri in Turin after being sacked by Chelsea at the end of the 2018-19 season. He opened his reign with a 14-game unbeaten run in Serie A, but stronger challenges from Inter Milan and Lazio saw Juventus win the Scudetto by just one point.
Ronaldo took to Instagram after Sarri's dismissal, urging the team to come back stronger. 'The 2019-20 season is over for us, much later than usual but yet sooner than expected,' he said. 'A huge club such as Juventus must always think like the best in the world, work like the best in the world, so that we can call ourselves one of the best in the world.'
