Milan dismissed coach Sinisa Mihajlovic yesterday after less than a season in charge, making him the Serie A club’s fourth managerial casualty in just over two years.

The seven-times European champions, almost certain to miss out on the Champions League for a third successive season, said youth team coach Cristian Brocchi would take over for the remainder of the campaign.

The decision, announced three days after Milan lost 2-1 at home to Juventus to extend their winless run to five games, followed a meeting between club president Silvio Berlusconi, chief executive Adriano Galliani and Brocchi on Monday, according to reports.

Former Sampdoria, Lazio, Inter and Yugoslavia player Mihajlovic was in charge for 38 matches, with 19 victories, 10 draws and nine defeats.

Milan are sixth in Serie A, 15 points adrift of the Champions League play-off spot with six games to play. Although they also reached the final of the Coppa Italia, that was not considered enough to compensate for their indifferent league form.

Brocchi, 40, is a former hard-tackling defensive midfielder with no senior coaching experience.

Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi and Brocchi himself are seen as two of the most likely long-term replacements.

Milan have gone through a succession of coaches since they last won Serie A in 2011 under Massimiliano Allegri, now at Juve.

Allegri was fired in early 2014 and replaced by former club favourite Clarence Seedorf, who oversaw a slight improvement in results but was still sacked at the end of that season.

Filippo Inzaghi, another favourite as a player, was promoted from the under-19 team for 2014-15 but also had a rough ride and was fired after his side finished the season in 10th place.

Mihajlovic, who had turned around Sampdoria’s fortunes during 18 months at the Genoa club, was brought in and said he was aiming for a top-three finish but fared little better.