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Lienen fired as Olympiakos coach

PIRAEUS, Greece — German coach Ewald Lienen has been fired by Greek first division club Olympiakos, the day after the team’s shock Europa League exit.

Olympiakos stuggled to a 2-1 home win against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first leg qualifier only to exit on the away goals rule after a 1-0 loss on Thursday night in Israel.

Lienen, 56, took over as coach in June on a two-year contract.

“It was a short, but positive experience for me,” said Lienen.

“It was a tough situation. A new team with new players who were not ready to play in the Europa League. There was a lot of pressure on me and we took the decision to break my contract.”

Some 200 angry fans shouted abuse and threw plastic bottles at the players and staff as they arrived home early Friday from Israel.

Riot police forced back the crowd, enabling the players and staff to depart without further incident.

Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis was furious at both Lienen and Brazilian forward Diogo, who was sent off near the end of the tie when he punched Maccabi goalkeeper Liran Strauber.

Marinakis, who has spent 23 million euros on new players, reportedly was so angry with the two that he called up after the match and demanded that Lienen and Diogo not return with the team from Israel.

The threat was not carried out as Olympiakos officials explained that the team would be penalized by European governing body UEFA if it took such action.

Olympiakos won the Greek title for five years in a row between 2005 and 2009 but endured a disappointing 2009-10 campaign.

They finished second in the regular season but then ended up bottom of the four-team play-off table, meaning they missed out on a Champions League place this season and had to qualify for the Europa League.

Among those touted as possible successors are Spaniard Ernesto Valdverde, if he does not accept the post with the Japanese national team, and former Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini.