Bayern Leverkusen have sacked head coach Sami Hypia after a run of a solitary win in their previous 12 matches.
The poor run of form culminated into Friday’s 2-1 defeat to Hamburg in the Bundesliga, which has placed their hopes of progressing to next season’s Champions League in doubt.
They sits in the fourth position in the table, but faces a stern struggle with Wolfsburg, Borussia Monchengladbach and Mainz, who a within four points of their reach; all with a game in hand, in the race for Europe’s top flight.
Ex-Liverpool defender, Hypia, 40, took sole coaching responsibility of the side at the start of the season, having previously shared the job with Sascha Lewandowski.
Lewandowski, who was with Leverkusen’s youth teams, takes charge of the remaining fixtures for the rest of the season.
Hypia joined Leverkusen as a player in 2009 before retiring in 2011. He was promoted to the club’s coaching staff- alongside Lewandowski- in April 2012.
The duo led the side to a Champions League berth last season and lost out of the ongoing European championship in the last-16, 6-1 on aggregate to Paris St-Germain.
Hypia won the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool, and was part of the team who secured a historic FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup treble in 2001.
