Only Two and a Half Months Working, CSKA Sofia Coach Resigns

DBasia.news –  As a result of poor match results, CSKA Sofia coach, Ljupko Petrovic, has resigned as team coach. He resigned after two and a half months working together with CSKA Sofia. This was revealed directly by the club which won the Bulgarian League 31 times.

CSKA is one of the two most popular clubs in the Balkan country. This season they have only won five of 11 matches and failed to qualify for the Europa League group phase.

The team is ranked fourth in the domestic league standings which only consists of 14 teams after packing 19 points or eight points below the top of the Ludogorets standings and seven points behind arch-rivals, Levski.

“After meeting the club owners, he (Petrovic) announced his intention to leave his post, accepting his responsibility for the performance of this team,” CSKA wrote in a statement.

CSKA claimed to have failed to persuade him to stay.

At the age of 72, the Serbian, who has traveled all over the world and once delivered Red Star Belgrade to the European Cup in 1991, is one of the oldest coaches in European football.

He was criticized by fans and the media for applying the old-school style of playing football and getting rid of key players, such as captain, Nikolay Bodurov, whom he removed from the squad as he was considered “having a bad influence in the locker room.”

Petrovic, who coached dozens of clubs in Serbia, Spain, Uruguay, Greece, Austria, China, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Rwanda, had led Levski to become Bulgaria’s premier league champion in 2001.