Silvio Berlusconi's Monza fires Stroppa as coach

MONZA, Italy (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza fired coach Giovanni Stroppa on Tuesday and replaced him with Raffaele Palladino.

The 54-year-old Stroppa steered Monza to a historic first promotion to the top-flight via the playoffs last season but it took six matches to pick up its first point — in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at fellow promoted side Lecce.

The club has not specified if youth team coach Palladino will remain in charge on a permanent basis or — as Italian media reports — he will serve as a caretaker coach.

Palladino’s first match in charge will be against his former team Juventus. Palladino played more than 50 matches for Juventus before leaving the club for Genoa in 2008.

Former Italian premier Berlusconi bought Monza in 2018 and installed Adriano Galliani as CEO — reprising the same duo that found success at AC Milan until Berlusconi sold the Rossoneri in 2017 after 31 years as owner.

It is the second coaching change of the season in Serie A after Bologna fired Siniša Mihajlović last week and replaced him with Thiago Motta.

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