MOSCOW (AP) — Spartak Moscow fired coach Massimo Carrera on Monday following a disappointing start to the season.
In his first season, the former Juventus assistant coach took Spartak to its first Russian title in 16 years, but he has struggled to build on that achievement. Spartak finished third last season and lost in Champions League qualifying this year.
"Last season's results were considered unsatisfactory — not a single one of the targets was achieved," the club said in a statement. "The results and play of the team this season have shown there is no tendency toward improvement."
Spartak is sixth in the Russian league, one point from second place but seven points behind leader Zenit St. Petersburg.
Carrera had a strained relationship with some players. Midfielder Denis Glushakov and fullback Andrei Yeshchenko were dropped to the reserves last month after being accused of pressing Instagram's "like" button on a video of a poem recital criticizing Carrera.
