Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova has been forced to step down after suffering a relapse of cancer.
The 44-year-old, who took over from Pep Guardiola in the off-season, has guided Barca to a stunning start to the 2012-13 La Liga season, having won every game bar one to lead the league by nine points after just 16 games.
However, Vilanova has been forced to step aside for at least the next two months due to a relapse of a tumour on the saliva glands.
Vilanova will have surgery this week before undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In November 2011, Vilanova had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his neck.
Barca assistant Jordi Roura will take over in Vilanova’s absence, however the club’s president Sandro Rosell indicated when the head coach had recovered, he would resume his role.
“Tito is very strong. He has shown that before and we hope that he will be back with us very soon,” Rosell said.