 The next year turned out to be a tough year for Sampaoli, as "La Celeste" had an irregular campaign, where they finished in 8th place, and, despite qualifying to the 2009's Apertura Playoffs, ended up being thrashed 6–1 in the second leg of the quarterfinals by Unión Española.He resigned in August 2009, being replaced by Gerardo Silva.On 18 December 2009, Sampaoli was named Emelec manager for the upcoming season.