Mauricio Pochettino leaves Paris St-Germain after 18 months in charge

Paris Saint-Germain confirmed the departure of coach Mauricio Pochettino, after 18 months in his position.

Former Nice coach Christophe Galtier is expected to replace the Argentine.

Pochettino is leaving Paris Saint-Germain after leading them to the record 10th French title, his first success in the league as a coach.

A club statement read: “Paris Saint-Germain confirms that Mauricio Pochettino has completed his role at the club.

“The club would like to thank Mauricio Pochettino and his staff for their work and wish them well for the future.”

The former Paris Saint-Germain defender has overseen an unbeaten home run in the league this season, ending the season with 16 wins in 19 games.

Paris Saint-Germain regained the title but its last 16 Champions League exit – With Lionel Messi on the team – it was seen as a huge failure.

They squandered a 2-0 lead on aggregate in the Champions League against Real Madrid, to put a serious question mark over Pochettino’s future.

It was the first time that Les Parisiens, who reached the semi-finals in 2021 and were finalists in 2020, lost a Champions League away game after leading in the first half since 2001.

Tottenham sacked Pochettino in November 2019 after five years of coaching in the Premier League, months after leading them to the 2019 Champions League final.

After taking charge of Paris Saint-Germain in January last year, he finished second in Ligue 1 behind Lille Galtier and lost in that year’s Champions League semi-final at the hands of Manchester City.

Nevertheless, they won the French Cup and the Champions Cup, which were the first trophies in Pochettino’s coaching career.

The former Argentina defender started his coaching career at Espanyol and spent 18 months at Southampton before joining Tottenham in May 2014.