Nuno Espirito Santo sacked by Al-Ittihad (1 Viewer)

Nuno Espirito Santo has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of Al-Ittihad. In his debut season with the club, Nuno steered Al-Ittihad to a historic Saudi Pro League championship, breaking a 14-year-long drought for the top-flight title.

This achievement was particularly remarkable as Al-Ittihad managed to outshine a squad led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr, by a margin of five points. Additionally, they secured a berth in the Asian Champions League. Despite making significant signings like Fabinho, N'Golo Kante, and Karim Benzema during the summer transfer window, the Tigers have struggled to replicate their previous season's success.

Currently, Al-Ittihad finds themselves trailing the league leaders, Al-Hilal, by a significant 11 points in the Saudi Pro League. They have accumulated 21 points from 12 matches, placing them in sixth position on the league table. While they are leading their Champions League group after four matches, they suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Al Quwa Al Jawiya on Monday evening.

With back-to-back losses in all competitions and just three wins in nine games, the club's leadership has made the decision to terminate Nuno's contract. In an official statement, the club expressed:

"The club has announced the end of its contract with Portuguese coach Nuno Santo.

"The decision comes after a comprehensive technical evaluation of the past phase during which he was in charge of coaching the first football team."

Even though Nuno has been dismissed, his legacy at Al-Ittihad remains impressive, with an outstanding record of 36 victories and only eight losses in his 56 matches as head coach.

In the interim, the assistant coach, Hassan Khalifa, will take over the reins as a caretaker while the club initiates the search for a permanent replacement.