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Real Madrid President Florentino Perez announced that the club sacked coach Manuel Pellegrini and would appoint Jose Mourinho as his successor.

The decision was announced following a Directors meeting this Wednesday evening, ten days after the end of the season in which the club again failed to win any trophies.

Perez thanked Pellegrini for his work and confirmed that Mourinho would be named as his successor once 'contractual questions' were solved with Mourinho's current club - Inter Milan.

"It is not a quesiton of if it happens, but when it happens," said Perez

Mourinho will join Real Madrid a matter of days after leading Inter Milan to the Champions League, by beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

"The change of coach is always difficult, but we believe it is the moment to make a new impulse at this project," said Perez.

"We made a big effort a year ago and we have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. Our aim and the aim of our supporters is to be leaders in Spain and in Europe,"

"We have reflected on what happened this season and we have the chance to contract one of the best coaches in the world to give a new impulse. Mourinho is one of the best coaches there is and we could not let the chance to sign him pass us by. I think we will be able to present him in very little time," he added.

The declarations merely served to confirm, what had been expected since the end of the season.

Pellegrini joined Real Madrid last summer with the job of leading a team that had spent over 250 million Euros (300 million US dollars) on star players Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso.

Returning president, Perez had promised trophies, but despite all of his expenditure Real Madrid ended the season empty handed for a second successive year.

Things began badly for Pellegrini when the club was knocked out of the Copa del Rey by third tier side Alcorcon before Christmas.

That was embarrassing, but it was the club's failures in Europe and in the Champions League that were more painful.

With the Champions League final celebrated in Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, there were high hopes the club could win its tenth European Cup, however, Real Madrid failed again, being beaten by Olympic Lyon at the first knockout stage.

It is the sixth season in succession that Real Madrid has failed to even reach the quarter finals and that failure virtually sealed Pellegrini's fate.

The Chilean's only chance of saving his job was if his side won the Primera Liga title.

Madrid has had a record breaking season in Spain. Pellegrini's side won 31 of its 38 Primera Liga matches and scored 102 goals, but finished second to FC Barcelona.

Not only that, but Barcelona beat Real Madrid in the Camp Nou and won 2-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu, where its superiority was evident to anyone who watched the game. Barca's 4-0 win against Valladolid in the final game of the season saw the Catalans win the title with a lead of three points.

Florentino Perez spent more money than any other football club in history last summer and his club has won nothing. Someone had to pay the price and it was the coach.

Pellegrini, who never had the support of the pre-Madrid press, signed a two year contract with the club and his sacking will cost around 4 million Euros (five million dollars).

Real Madrid will almost certainly now embark on another summer of big spending with players such as Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Di Rossi and Diego Milito high on the club's shopping list.

Interestingly the only trophy won by any of the six coaches appointed by Perez was the 2003 Spanish Supercup, which was won when the side coached by Carlos Quieroz beat Mallorca.

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