Official: Tito Vilanova Resigns As FC Barcelona Manager

FC Barcelona have tonight confirmed the departure of head coach, Tito Vilanova who today tendered his resignation for health reasons. Having successfully battled illness throughout last season, Tito Vilanova returned to the Barcelona bench to lift the La Liga trophy, but having received confirmation of a relapse (his second relapse in less than a year), Vilanova has decided to put his health first, and will soon depart for New York where he undergo "full-time" treatment. Speaking in a brief press conference, Barcelona president Sandro Rosell went on to report that Barcelona hope to unveil a new manager as early as next week.

This seems to suggest that Tito Vilanova will not be returning to the Barcelona bench, but really, that’s irrelevant – what’s important at this stage is that Tito Vilanova overcomes this terrible disease, once and for all.

Rosell tried to end the press conference on a positive note, pointing out that Barcelona have "received many blows, and overcome them all", but it did nothing to lift the mood. The looks on the players’ faces said it all – they were deflated, and understandably so – as one of their closest colleagues leaves the club to battle an illness that no individual deserves to experience.

As a result of this awful news, the Blaugrana will not be travelling to Poland tomorrow, where they were scheduled to be taking on Lechia Gdansk in their first pre-season friendly. Instead, Barcelona will kick off their pre-season campaign on Wednesday, when they travel to Munich to face former coach Pep Guardiola and Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

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• Pep Guardiola Brings Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich, Barcelona Now Count on Sergi Roberto
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• FC Barcelona News: 18 July 2013; 11 Barça Youngsters Join First Team in Training, Messi, Montoya Talk To Press