Ranieri sacked as Juve coach, Ferrara takes over

By Mark Meadows

MILAN (Reuters) - Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as Juventus coach after a poor run of results and youth team boss Ciro Ferrara has taken over, 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.

"Juventus announce that Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as manager. From today the first team has been entrusted to Ciro Ferrara," a statement said, without confirming whether Ferrara was a short-term appointment.

Ferrara, a former Juventus defender, is also Italy assistant manager but has never coached a club before.

The former Italy international, who also played for Napoli, won seven Italian championships as a player and one Champions League with Juve in 1996.

Former Chelsea coach Ranieri succeeded Didier Deschamps in June 2007 after Juve were promoted back to Serie A following their demotion for match-fixing.