Leverkusen sack coach Schmidt after losing run

BERLIN (Reuters) - Champions League contenders Bayer Leverkusen sacked coach Roger Schmidt on Sunday, a day after his team suffered their fourth loss in the last six league games with a 6-2 demolition by Borussia Dortmund.

(Reuters)

Leverkusen are in ninth place in the Bundesliga after an erratic campaign and risk losing out on European action altogether next season.

They travel to Atletico Madrid on March 15 for the return leg of their Champions League round-of-16 match after a 4-2 loss at home in the first leg last month.

"Due to the current sporting development we reached the conclusion after a long analysis that parting ways may be painful but unavoidable for the further development of Leverkusen," said the club's managing director Michael Schade.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Clare Fallon)