Real Madrid fired coach Carlo Ancelotti on Monday as the Spanish club again showed it won't tolerate a season without a major trophy.
Ancelotti was let go despite being popular among both players and fans and having led Madrid to its 10th European Cup title just a year ago. This season the team finished second in the Spanish League — two points behind archrival Barcelona — lost in the Champions League semifinals to Juventus and exited the Copa del Rey against crosstown rival Atletico Madrid.
While the team did win the Club World Cup, that did little to appease Madrid's notoriously impatient directors.
Club president Florentino Perez announced the firing after a board meeting, and said Ancelotti's successor would be announced next week.
Perez said it had been a "very difficult decision" because the Italian had in two years earned his personal affection — as well as that of the board and the fans — and "now forms part of our history because with him we won our 10th cup."