Wanderley Luxemburgo has been appointed the new manager of Real Madrid, replacing Mariano Garcia Remon who will remain at the club in a reduced capacity.
Real confirmed the move at a news conference which followed a board meeting.
“Real Madrid’s board has unanimously approved the proposal of the sports management team to appoint Vanderlei Luxemburgo as new coach,” vice-president Emilio Butragueno told a news conference.
“It’s not been an easy decision for us but … we think it is the best decision right now for Real Madrid,” he said.
Luxemburgo, 52, was previously in charge of Brazilian champions Santos.
“It’s a great pleasure. To work with Real Madrid is the dream of any coach,” said Luxemburgo on his arrival in Madrid.
He becomes Real’s third coach of the season, following the resignation earlier in the season of Jose Antonio Camacho, who quit after just three matches in charge.
Remon,succeeded Camacho as coach but, like his predecessor, struggled to motivate Madrid’s star players. Since Remon took over, Real have continued to struggle in La Liga and are in fifth place, 13 points behind leaders Barcelona.
Luxemburgo,was Brazil coach from 1998 to 2000, winning the Copa America in 1999 but was fired following the Sydney Olympics after poor results.
He took over Santos in May this year after being fired by Cruzeiro in February following a clash with directors, leading Santos to the recently-completed Brazilian championship.
