getty, Claudio Villa

Außenverteidiger Jérémy Morel steht mit OM vor einem heißen Winter

Marseille on Saturday sacked manager Elie Baup, the dismissal coming at the end of a week when the south coast club suffered two successive Ligue 1 defeats, the club announced.

The 1-0 loss to Nantes which followed a similar reverse at Lille left Marseille in fifth, trailing the top three by eight points to compromise their prospects of European football next season.

"Elie Baup has left after talks between the (club) president and the coach at the end of training on Saturday morning," a Marseille statement reported, endorsing earlier media reports.

The Velodrome club's sporting director Jose Anigo, a former manager at the club himself, will assume temporary control up to the French league's winter break.

"He will be in the dug out against (Borussia) dortmund on Wednesday night," Marseille confirmed.

It added: "The way the results were going didn't match our fixed objectives and a strong decision had to be taken to relaunch the team in the coming weeks."

This season, it noted, Baup "had not obtained the expected results.

"A psychological shock had to be made to help us get back on the right track."

The 58-year-old was appointed at the start of the 2011-2012 season, replacing current France manager Didier Deschamps and guiding Marseille into second place behind champions Paris Saint-Germain last season.

In contrast to last term, this season has been marred by a run of poor performances in the league and the loss of all five matches in the Champions League.

Baup is the second manager to leave his Ligue 1 job in 48 hours, after Montpellier split with Jean Fernandez on Thursday.

Anigo's first match at the helm is against Borussia Dortmund in the sixth and final Champions League group game with only pride at stake on Wednesday.

In Ligue 1, Marseille host former multiple French champions Lyon next Sunday, followed by the visit of Bordeaux.

In the French League Cup, Marseille, who won the 2010 league title under Deschamps in 2010, face Toulouse.