Coach Angel Cappa was fired Monday by River Plate following a run of seven matches without a victory in the Apertura championship.
Cappa's departure came a day after a 1-0 defeat by newly-promoted All Boys, which put the coach under huge pressure ahead of River Plate's next game: the so-called "super clasico" against Boca Juniors set for Nov. 16.
Cappa said he did not resign, but was was fired by president Daniel Passarella.
"No way did I resign," he told reporters. "I wasn't thinking about this. I was thinking of the clasico, a very important game for River."
The famous Buenos Aires club is facing the possibility of being relegated to Argentina's second division, unthinkable for a club that's as big in Argentina as Manchester United in England or Real Madrid or Barcelona in Spain.
Boca Juniors coach Claudio Borghi could also be out before the big match with River. Shortly after Cappa was fired, reports surfaced that Borghi might be leaving, too. Boca lost 2-0 on Saturday to Argentinos Juniors and is lodged in the bottom of the pack with 17 points in 13 matches. River has 18.
Cappa is the third River Plate coach to leave the club in just over a year. Cappa took over from Leonardo Astrada in April. Astrada replaced Nestor Gorosito, who resigned 13 months ago.
Relegation in Argentina is decided on results over three seasons, and the last three have been poor. River's last title was the Clausura in 2008.
"I was in the process of looking for a team that would play how I liked," Cappa said. "I won 50 percent of the points, which is not bad for the chaos that has surrounded River."
Cappa coached the Argentine club Huracan to second place in the 2009 Clausura season, but resigned later following a dispute with the club's management.
He was the choice of Passarella and the club's board of directors. The club said in a statement that youth coach Juan Jose Lopez would run practice on Tuesday as a short-term replacement. Former Independiente coach Americo Gallego and Marcelo Bielsa, who quit his job as Chile coach last week, have been mentioned as possible long-term replacements.
