Jose Mourinho to leave Spanish football at the end of the season

Speaking at a press conference last night, Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez confirmed that Portuguese Jose Mourinho- tipped to return to Chelsea – would depart the Bernabeu by mutual agreement at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Mourinho was on the training ground as usual today preparing the players for Sunday’s match against Real Sociedad.

However, the Spanish press – led by the pro-Madrid Marca and AS – applauded the news, while rivals Barcelona also welcomed confirmation of something which had long been anticipated.

Barca’s vice-president Carles Vilarrubi told Catalunya Radio: “Now I can say it, Mourinho has been a scourge.

“Seeing him leave is a positive for Spanish football because he had created a negative atmosphere.”

During his three years in charge, Mourinho has had several high-profile run-ins with Barca, including poking Tito Vilanova in the eye during a Spanish Supercopa match and claiming UEFA favoured the Catalan club following an ill-tempered Champions League semi-final.

Although Mourinho led Madrid to the Primera Division title last year, he was unable during his turbulent three-year spell to end Barca’s current dominance of La Liga and his side trail the champions by 13 points with two games remaining.

After last week’s Copa del Rey final defeat by Atletico, Mourinho declared: “This season has been the worst of my life.”