Queiroz departs Madrid

Real Madrid have parted company with coach Carlos Queiroz and appointed Jose Antonio Camacho as his replacement at the end of a season in which the Spanish giants have finished without a major trophy.

A series of disastrous results since Christmas, culminating in an unprecedented five-game losing run at the end of the season, meant that Queiroz had no future at El Santiago Bernabeu.

He leaves the club midway through a two-year contract, signed last June when he was lured away from his role as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

Camacho, who arrives from Benfica, is a Real Madrid legend who played 414 matches for the Spanish giants between 1974 and 1989.
He also won 81 caps for Spain and coached the national team at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup.

His will be a popular appointment. Queiroz's downfall looked unlikely at the start of March, when his team were chasing a treble of Primera Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League.

But they soon slipped into freefall, throwing away an eight-point lead in the Primera Liga and allowing Valencia to coast to the title.
The Copa del Rey final was the catalyst to the slide, however, as Madrid lost 3-2 to Real Zaragoza in a classic contest.

Madrid were shattered by the defeat, which emphasised their vulnerability in defence. Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito, whom Madrid had decided against buying in the summer following a medical, was the star man.

The defence was a department which Queiroz was unable to strengthen during his time at the helm, and Madrid went on to lose to Monaco in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, surrendering a 4-2 first-leg advantage in the Principality.

Once again a Madrid cast-off - Monaco forward Fernando Morientes - proved the nemesis of his former colleagues with goals in both legs.

That left them with only the league to play for, but Madrid were both physically and mentally fatigued, which left them in disarray over the closing weeks of the campaign.

No more was that evident than on Sunday evening when Real Sociedad arrived at the Bernabeu and took apart the home side, romping to a 4-1 victory and picking holes in the Madrid defence at will.

Madrid's board members convened on Monday morning to finalise the change of coaching staff.

The move mirrors that of last season, when Madrid sacked coach Vicente del Bosque less than 24 hours after the final game of the season.

In Del Bosque's case, however, he had led Madrid to the Primera Liga title and the Champions League semi-finals.

For Queiroz, there was no trace of success for him to call up as evidence to support his claim for a second year in charge.