Relegation battler Celta Vigo sacks Rafa Benitez after just five wins this season
Tue, Mar 12, 2024
Soccer News (AP)
VIGO, Spain (AP) - Celta Vigo has fired coach Rafa Benitez after winning just five league games this season.
The Spanish club announced the decision on Tuesday, thanking the former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager for "eight months of absolute dedication and total commitment" but saying he fell short of obtaining "the results expected."
Celta lost 4-0 to league leader Madrid on Sunday and is 17th in the Spanish league, one place above the relegation zone with 10 matches remaining.
The 63-year-old Spaniard was also sacked by Premier League side Everton after 200 days in early 2022.
Benitez's best spell was when he coached Liverpool and won the Champions League in 2005 and reached the final in 2007. He also won the FA Cup in 2006.
He won the Europa League as Chelsea coach in 2013 and the Italian Cup with Napoli the following year.
But Madrid sacked him in January 2016, with unhappy fans waving farewell handkerchiefs at him a couple of months earlier following a 4-0 home less to Barcelona.
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