Olympiacos call time on Lienen

Olympiacos FC have moved quickly to dismiss coach Ewald Lienen after the Piraeus club were surprisingly knocked out of the UEFA Europa League in the third qualifying round by Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC on Thursday.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Olympiacos went down 1-0 in the Israeli capital to crash out on the away-goals rule, prompting the 56-year-old German's dismissal after just two months in charge. No announcement has yet been made concerning a successor for Lienen, who followed Temuri Ketsbaia, Zico and Božidar Bandović as the fourth coach at Olympiacos in the past 12 months.

The defeat means Olympiacos will be absent from European competition this season for the first time since serving a ban during the 1991/92 campaign. Since their first season in Europe in 1959/60, they have missed out on European football just seven times, this year included. Thursday's elimination was the first time they had failed to get through a qualifying stage.