Vilanova steps down as Barcelona coach following recurrence of throat cancer

Barcelona: Tito Vilanova stepped down as Barcelona's coach following a recurrence of throat cancer. Club president Sandro Rosell said Vilanova will "follow a treatment" that will be "incompatible" with staying on as coach of the Spanish champions.

Rosell made the announcement on Friday at a hurriedly called news conference. The 44-year-old Vilanova had twice previously had to take a medical break from his duties at Barcelona, once as Pep Guardiola's assistant in the 2011-12 season and again as its manager last season.

In his single season in charge he led Barcelona to the Spanish league title with a record-tying point 100 points.

Vilanova had travelled to New York for a second time in May to undergo cancer treatment after having a second tumor in two years removed from his throat in December. The club said Vilanova underwent "pioneering treatment" that had originally been scheduled for this summer but was moved forward after Barcelona clinched the Spanish league title early.

The 44-year-old coach had earlier spent 10 weeks receiving treatment in a New York hospital after undergoing surgery in Barcelona. On Tuesday, Vilanova said he needed to respond to comments former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had made in Italy. While on a pre-season training session with Bayern near Lake Garda, Guardiola caused a media storm in Spain by saying that quite a few things this year had "crossed the line." He said Barcelona's directors had unfairly criticized him over how he reacted after Vilanova had to go in for medical treatment.

Vilanova said, "Pep got it wrong," adding that no one on Barcelona's board of directors had used his illness to attack Guardiola. He said that Guardiola had visited him only once, early on, during his stay in New York. "But during my recovery, I spent two months there and did not see him, and that wasn't due to me. He was my friend and I needed him and he was not there for me. I would have acted differently," Vilanova said. "It was I who was alone, who went through a bad time," Vilanova said. "It was I who needed help."

At the time Guardiola, who led Barcelona to 14 titles over four seasons and turned the Spanish club into arguably the best team in the world, was living in New York, taking a year off from sporting duties before taking up a post as coach for Bayern Munich. Barcelona and Bayern are scheduled to play a pre-season friendly on July 24.