Argentina's Arsenal dismiss coach sooner than expected

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's Arsenal go into their first ever Libertadores Cup knockout round tie without the coach who led them to four major titles after Gustavo Alfaro was sacked on Tuesday. Arsenal took the dramatic decision to dispense with Alfaro, who had announced last week he was leaving the club at the end of the season, after Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Gimnasia in the Final championship. "Gustavo Alfaro has ceased to be Arsenal coach and this evening he will bid farewell to the squad," Arsenal said on their official website (www.celesteyrojo.com.ar). "Last Thursday, at a news conference, the trainer had announced he did not intend renewing his contract at the end of the season." Alfaro leaves Arsenal at the bottom of the standings in the season's second championship with 10 points from 13 matches. Having taken charge in July 2010, he led them to their only league title and the Argentine Supercup in 2012, victory in the Copa Argentina knockout competition last year and into the last 16 of the Libertadores Cup this month. The 51-year-old also led Arsenal to the title in the Copa Sudamericana, South America's equivalent of the Europa League, in his previous spell in charge in 2007. Arsenal face Chile's Union Espanola in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the region's elite club tournament at their Julio H. Grondona stadium in the suburb of Sarandi next week. "I believe cycles come to an end. A four-year process is very wearing," Alfaro said last Thursday when he told reporters he would quit his job when the season ends on May 19. The club was founded by the Grondona brothers, including long-standing Argentine FA president Julio Grondona, in 1957 and named after England's Arsenal. (Reporting by Rex Gowar, editing by Pritha Sarkar)