SINSHEIM, Germany — The American football coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has been dismissed by German club Hoffenheim as the team faces a precarious situation, inching closer to the bottom of the Bundesliga standings and struggling immensely in recent league matches, failing to find the back of the net for three consecutive games.

Matarazzo, who took the helm in February 2023, leaves Hoffenheim seated in 15th place out of the 18 teams in the Bundesliga, while they are in a mid-table position in the Europa League.

Over the past six matches across all competitions, Hoffenheim has managed to secure just one victory, which came against the second-division team Nuremberg in the German Cup. Their latest outing resulted in a goalless draw with Augsburg, marking the third straight Bundesliga match without a goal for the team.

This current predicament starkly contrasts the team’s performance last season, when Matarazzo led them to an impressive seventh-place finish in the Bundesliga, earning them a spot in the Europa League. During that season’s final match, they notably triumphed over Bayern Munich with a score of 4-2, which allowed Stuttgart to leapfrog Bayern into second place in the standings.

When Matarazzo took the reins, the club was entangled in a relegation struggle, and he was instrumental in guiding them to safety. However, this season brought significant challenges, including turmoil within the club’s management. The offseason saw the termination of sporting director Alexander Rosen and technical director Bastian Huber, followed by the resignation of Pirmin Schwegler, who served as the director of the first team.

To address these management changes, Hoffenheim has turned to Sturm Graz, appointing Andreas Schicker and Paul Pajduch as the new sporting and technical directors, respectively. There are reports circulating that Christian Ilzer, the coach from Graz, is a potential candidate to succeed Matarazzo as the team’s next head coach.