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Live Coverage: Jose Mourinho leaves Real Madrid - as it happened

Sports Mole's live coverage as Real Madrid announced the departure of coach Jose Mourinho.
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After months of speculation, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez confirmed to the media this evening that Jose Mourinho would leave the club at the end of the current La Liga season.

The Portuguese coach has been in charge at the Bernabeu for three years, but as from June 3, he will be able to join another club.

Below, you can find out how the news broke with Sports Mole's live updates.


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Well, well - it seems that Real Madrid do not think that Jose Mourinho is as "special" as he does! All reports this evening point to his departure from the Bernabeu early next month once the Spanish season is over.

It has been claimed that the Portuguese coach has reached a financial settlement with his Spanish employers, which will see him leave on June 2. It's news that broke just over an hour ago and for a full report, click here.

So why are we here then? Well, the club confirmed on their official website this afternoon that president Florentino Perez would be holding a press conference at 7pm UK time. While there has been no confirmation from the club, it is expected this is when the end of Mourinho's tenure will be confirmed. So, we are not far away from the big moment.

But why has it come to this? After all, 12 months ago Mourinho had ended Barcelona's domestic dominance by guiding Los Blancos to their first La Liga title since 2008. On the face it, all appeared to be rosey in the Real Madrid garden. However, if you follow journalists like Guillem Balague, you will know that there have been problems for a long time.

There have been stories of disagreements with a number of players. The likes of Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and even Cristiano Ronaldo are all thought to have had heated exchanges with their boss. And as everyone is only too aware, club captain Iker Casillas does not see eye to eye with Mourinho. It's actually the goalkeeper's birthday today - it seems he is getting a late present!

Spanish reporter Balague is actually live on Sky Sports News right now. He has just claimed that Mourinho feels that the "players have too much power" at Real Madrid. He also adds that the 50-year-old "does not have many friends" in Spain.

Right, Perez has just entered the press conference in the Bernabeu...

CONFIRMED! President Perez confirms that Mourinho will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season after three years in charge.

The president has quickly stressed though that the club has not sacked Mourinho: "Nobody has been sacked - it's a mutual agreement," confirms Perez. "It's been in the back of our minds for a while now."

And a little bit more from Perez: "I think we both agree that the timing is right to go our separate ways." So, it seems that this has been coming for a little while. If everybody honest, I don't think that it has come as a massive surprise.

He has also praised the work that Mourinho has done since his arrival from Inter Milan in 2010: "The club and manager agree the timing is right to bring our relationship to an end. On behalf of the board of directors would like to thank Jose Mourinho for all his hard work. The team have improved in his three years and we wish him all the best."

What's more, the "mutual agreement" means that whichever club Mourinho takes charge of next will not have to pay any compensation. Despite having a lorry-load of money to play with, that is bound to attract a certain Russian down the King's Road in London.

One publication that didn't have the best of relationships with Mourinho was Madrid-based Marca. On their Twitter, they've simply wrote "Bye Bye Mourinho". For some reason, they seem happy!

Attention in the Spanish capital will now obviously turn to who is going to replace Mourinho. Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed yesterday that he would like to talk to Madrid, but that move was blocked by his club. Despite reports, Perez was eager to stress that he has approached nobody...

Here is what he said when asked if anybody had been lined up for the job: "We have no pre-contract signed with any managerial candidate. It's something we'll have to look at in the coming days."

Whoever takes the role will have to contend with these Mourinho statistics, as provided by Opta: "72% - Real Madrid have won 72% games played in all competitions with Jose Mourinho as manager (127 of 176). End."

So, what has Mourinho achieved during his three years at the Madrid helm? Well, as mentioned earlier he impressively won the La Liga title last year, while the year before saw the team when the Copa del Rey thanks to a header from Ronaldo. Add to that a Spanish Super Cup in 2012 and it's not too shabby at all.

However, he wasn't able to guide the club to what they really craved and that was a 10th European Cup. In his three seasons, Madrid were knocked out at the semi-final stage on each occasion. It's a record that really grated on a lot of Madrid supporters and it seems some of the board members as well.

Balague is now back on Sky Sports News, having watched the remainder of the press conference with Perez. He has hinted that Mourinho may have felt the pressure of managing Madrid to be too intense for him. All eyes were on him 24/7 and understandably that could become mentally-draining.

There are some further quotes from Perez being revealed, which are being printed by Spanish newspaper AS. Let's bring them to you know...

"We don't think our achievements of this year have been sufficient for a demanding club like RM or coach like Mourinho. Mourinho is one of Real Madrid's longest-serving coaches. To be in the post for three years, isn't easy for anyone. Now we are to start a new era."

"Real Madrid is the best club of the 21st Century, in other words, the best in history. This season, we fell short of those expectations. The word 'failure' doesn't correspond to the reality. Right now, you need 100 points to win the league."

And on a potential replacement: "We have a number of candidates in mind, not just one. We asked PSG whether [Ancelotti's] contract would be terminated, they replied, 'no'."

Right, with all that done and dusted, I shall leave you with one staggering fact. Yes, Madrid are arguably the biggest club in world football but...

...in the 27 years that Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of Manchester United, Los Blancos changed manager on 25 occasions! This will be their 26th swap. No matter what, there is never a dull moment at the Bernabeu!

Thanks for joining our coverage this evening and be sure to check back with Sports Mole over the course of the evening for more stories on Mourinho's departure. Until next time, goodbye.

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Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho watches his side's Champions League semi final against Borussia Dortmund on April 24, 2013
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2Barcelona31217362342870
3GironaGirona31205663392465
4Atletico MadridAtletico31194859362361
5Athletic Bilbao31169651292257
6Real Sociedad311311745331250
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8Real BetisBetis31111283837145
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12Las PalmasLas Palmas31107142935-637
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15Mallorca31613122536-1131
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20Almeria31111193062-3214


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