UPDATE 3-Soccer-Ranieri sacked as Juve coach, Ferrara takes over

* Ranieri sacked by Juve after bad run

* Youth team coach Ciro Ferrara takes over for now (Adds quotes)

By Mark Meadows

MILAN, May 18 (Reuters) - Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as Juventus coach after a poor run of results and youth team boss Ciro Ferrara has taken over temporarily, the club said on Monday.

The Turin side are a point above fourth-placed Fiorentina with two matches left and are in danger of slipping out of an automatic Champions League berth after a run of seven Serie A games without a win.

Fourth place guarantees only a spot in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

Club chief executive Jean Claude Blanc said Ferrara's appointment was initially for the last two games of the season.

"The next two games are our future," Blanc told a news conference. "It is not our style (to sack someone) but we can not miss out on Europe. We wanted to shock the players so they'd take the right path with the right man at the right moment."

Ferrara, a former Juventus defender, is also assistant to Italy coach and ex-Juve boss Marcello Lippi but has never managed a club before.