Leverkusen announced that it had parted company with coach Robin Dutt at a press conference on Sunday morning.

"We simply had to act," said Bayer chairman Wolfgang Holzhäuser. "We had to lay down our intent to breathe new life into our target this season of qualifying for international competition."

The club announced that Dutt's role for the rest of the season would be taken on by former player Sami Hyypia and youth team coach Sascha Lewandowski.

"With the team of Hyypia and Lewandowski we hope to turn things around and get things moving in the right direction again," said Holzhäuser.

Summoned to morning meeting

The German daily newspaper Bild reported on its website that Dutt was summoned to a meeting with Leverkusen director of sport Rudi Völler and Holzhäuser on Sunday morning, where he was formally dismissed.

The 47-year-old took over in summer 2011 after spending four years as coach of Freiburg. The string of defeats for the club mean it has now slipped to sixth in the table and is in danger of missing out on Europa League qualification. The club reached the last 16 of the Champions League this season.

Dutt is the eighth coach in the Bundesliga to part ways with his club this season.

rc/dfm (Reuters, AFP, AP)