Club Brugge – Belgium's reigning champions – saw their European adventure come to an end after a 5-1 loss to Portugal's Benfica in the Champions League round of 16, resulting in the firing of their head coach.
Having lost the first leg at home 2-0, Club Brugge knew that anything less than a win in Lisbon would see them eliminated from the Champions League, having made it to the competition's knock-out stages for the first time ever.
However, Benfica dealt them a humiliating blow on Tuesday evening, with goals from Rafa Silva and Goncalo Ramos putting the Portuguese giants up 2-0 before half-time.
The Belgian side did not manage to stop the bleeding in the second half, with Benfica scoring three goals within 20 minutes to put them 5-0 up. Dutch defender Bjorn Meijer managed to score a consolation goal in the 87th minute.
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In response to the result, Club Brugge now plans to fire their head coach Scott Parker, Het Nieuwsblad reports. Appointed earlier this year, the English manager has been unable to halt the champions' slump in the league, having failed to win two matches since his arrival.
Parker is set to be replaced by Alfred Schreuder, who had coached Club Brugge to last season's league title before leaving for Dutch side AFC Ajax. Schreuder had himself been sacked by the European giant following disappointing results in the league.
