Atletico Madrid sacked coach Marcos Alonso early this morning after they dropped seven points behind the promotion places in the Spanish second division.
"Bar a miracle we have said goodbye to promotion and to say anything else would only be fooling ourselves. From this moment on Atletico needs a fundamental restructuring," Atletico president Jesus Gil said today.
"This season has been one disaster after another. If I had had my way I would have sacked the coach long ago."
Gil said Alonso would be replaced by his assistant, Emilio Cruz, who takes charge until the end of the season. Cruz becomes the 25th man to hold the post since Gil took over at the club in 1987.
On Saturday Gil had said that he would sack Alonso if he could following the team's disappointing 3-0 home defeat to Murcia. But he was persuaded by the club's technical director, Paulo Futre, to keep the coach on.
But the Atletico president changed his mind after yesterday's 2-0 win by Tenerife over Elche meant that Atletico dropped further behind in the race for promotion.
Reuters