Panathinaikos cast Ferreira adrift

Panathinaikos FC have parted company with coach Jesualdo Ferreira after a disappointing run of results left the Greens sixth in the Greek Super League, 15 points adrift of table-topping Olympiacos FC.

The 66-year-old steps down after almost two years in charge, with the club's Under-20 coach Juan Ramón Rocha set to take command for Sunday's league game aginst PAOK FC, assisted by another Panathinaikos player of the 1980s, Giannis Vonortas. Under Ferreira's guidance, the Athens side have won just three of their ten top-flight fixtures this season and dropped into the UEFA Europa League after losing to Málaga CF in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Former midfielder Rocha coached Panathinaikos from 1994–96, during which time his team reached the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League semi-finals; he was briefly caretaker boss in 1999 too, following Vassilis Daniil's dismissal.

Portuguese trainer Ferreira was appointed by Panathinaikos on 20 November 2010, having made an impact by lifting three successive Liga titles and two Portuguese Cups at FC Porto in the late 2000s. However, his charges picked up only two points from their first four UEFA Europa League group stage matches and are bottom of Group J, though they still have a chance of reaching the round of 32 as they meet NK Maribor at home on matchday five.