In this round of Ligue 1, after a 0-5 defeat to Marseille, Montpellier club president Laurent Nicollin announced the dismissal of head coach Michel Der Zakarian.
This loss has pushed Montpellier to the bottom of the Ligue 1 table, with only 4 points in 8 matches and 26 goals conceded, averaging 3.25 goals per game. This is a performance akin to a “sieve.”
In this match, Marseille’s stars seemed to be on top form, with players like Greenwood performing exceptionally well, making Montpellier look inferior by comparison.
The crushing defeat made Michel Der Zakarian’s position as head coach untenable. Montpellier president Laurent Nicollin announced the decision to dismiss Der Zakarian during a live television broadcast. He said, “We can’t replace the entire 25-man squad, so unfortunately, I had to make the decision to fire Michel. We had a conversation in the dressing room after the match, and I told him that it was over. I also informed the players that they need to take responsibility and prove themselves in next week’s match against Toulouse.”
Notably, this was Der Zakarian’s 200th Ligue 1 match as Montpellier’s coach, and it was also his last. In his final 10 games, he won only one.
Der Zakarian becomes the first head coach to be dismissed in the Ligue 1 season.
