Moscow  - Juande Ramos has been sacked by CSKA Moscow in the wake of a weekend defeat that all but extinguished the Russian side's title hopes.

The former Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid coach has only been in his job since September 10 when he replaced Zico, but the 3-1 home defeat to city rivals FC Moscow saw CSKA drop to fifth in the table, 10 points behind leaders Rubin Kazan with only four games remaining.

More worryingly for CSKA, only the top three teams qualify for next season's lucrative Champions League.

CSKA are also in danger of failing to make it to the knockout stages of this season's Champions League after losing two of their opening three group matches, the latest a
1-0 home defeat to Manchester United last week.

Former Kyrlia Sovetov coach Leonid Slutsky has been named as Ramos' replacement.(dpa)