Breaking: Napoli Sack Carlo Ancelotti

Napoli has sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti less than three hours after he guided them into the Champions League knockout stages. The Serie A club had not won in nine games in all competitions until Tuesday’s 4-0 success at home to Genk.

Ancelotti was in his second season in charge of Napoli but they sit seventh in the league after that poor run, BBC reports.

Last month the manager and Napoli players were in a high-profile dispute with president Aurelio de Laurentiis.

De Laurentiis ordered the team to attend a week-long training camp but Ancelotti and his players all returned home.

Ancelotti, who won the Premier League and FA Cup Double with Chelsea in 2009-10, has been linked with the vacant manager’s jobs at Arsenal and Everton.

He is one of only three managers to win three European Cups/Champions Leagues – along with Liverpool legend Bob Paisley and current Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

Ancelotti won two Champions Leagues with AC Milan and once with Real Madrid, as well as domestic titles with Milan, Chelsea, Paris St-Germain, and Bayern Munich.