The Portuguese coach had to pay the price for AC Milan’s inconsistent performances in Serie A.
AC Milan has sacked coach Paulo Fonseca following a series of poor results, which saw the team drop to eighth place in Italy’s top league.
Milan has managed only two wins in their last seven Serie A matches. The team, struggling with inconsistency all season, drew 1-1 at home on Sunday against Roma, a side also going through a rough patch.
The 19-time Italian champions are now 14 points behind league leaders Atalanta and 8 points away from fourth-placed Lazio, though Milan has a game in hand.
In a statement on Monday, Milan announced Fonseca’s dismissal. Local media reports suggest that Sérgio Conceição could be his replacement.
Stefano Pioli, who coached the team for five years and won the Serie A title in 2022, left Milan last June. Last season, his team finished as runners-up, 19 points behind champions Inter Milan. Fonseca, 51, replaced Pioli but lasted only six months.
The former Roma coach returned to Serie A after a stint with Lille, and expectations were high. However, his start was far from ideal. Milan drew 2-2 against Torino and Lazio and suffered a 2-1 loss to newly promoted Parma.
Milan secured their first win under Fonseca in mid-September, defeating Venezia, and later recorded an impressive victory against Inter Milan.
In the Champions League, Milan lost their first two matches to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen but bounced back with four consecutive wins, including a notable victory against Real Madrid.
In Serie A, Milan has won only seven of their 17 matches so far.
Fonseca has an impressive resume, winning the Portuguese Super Cup with Porto in 2013 and the Portuguese Cup in the 2015-16 season. From 2017 to 2019, he led Shakhtar Donetsk to three consecutive Ukrainian Premier League titles. Now, Fonseca must look for a new club to continue his coaching career.
