Alaves, Huesca sack coaches in bid for survival

Struggling La Liga clubs Alaves and Huesca have sacked their coaches in a bid to boost their chances of avoiding relegation.

Basement club Huesca decided to part ways with Michel in the early hours of Monday, shortly after losing 2-0 at home to Real Betis.

They had only one victory from 18 games this season since earning promotion in their first campaign under Michel, who also got his previous club Rayo Vallecano promoted to the top flight only to lose his job the next season.

Alaves, meanwhile, announced the sacking of Pablo Machin on Tuesday after a 3-1 defeat at Cadiz left them 16th in the standings on 18 points, two above the relegation zone.

Machin had taken charge of Alaves at the start of the season and earned a stunning away win at champions Real Madrid plus a home draw with Barcelona, but could ultimately not convince the club hierarchy he was capable of keeping the team-up.

He was only recently regarded as one of the most promising coaches in Spanish football after doing a superb job at Girona and being hired by Sevilla.

But he has now been sacked three times in under two years, losing his job with Sevilla in 2019 while spending less than three months last season in charge of Espanyol, who were relegated after he was relieved of his duties.