Madraid sack coach Luxemburgo

Real Madrid have sacked their Brazilian coach Wanderley Luxemburgo.

Luxemburgo had been in charge for less than a year after replacing Mariano Garcia Remon on December 30 last year.

Tonight’s announcement came 24 hours after Real beat local rivals Getafe 1-0 for their first win in four Primera Liga and Champions League matches – a game which saw England midfielder David Beckham sent off.

Luxemburgo has been replaced by Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, the coach of the club's reserve team Real Madrid Castilla, who are in the second division.

Lopez Caro, who has been in charge of Castilla for the last five seasons, has never before coached a top-flight team.

The Seville-born 42-year-old becomes the sixth Real coach since Florentino Perez took over the presidency in 2000, following in the footsteps of Vicente Del Bosque, Carlos Queiroz, Jose Antonio Camacho, Mariano Garcia Remon and Luxemburgo.

Del Bosque, Garcia Remon and Lopez Caro were all promoted from within the club.

Real announced the move in a statement on their website.

It read: “The board of directors have taken the decision that Wanderley Luxemburgo will not continue to lead at the head of Real Madrid.

“After reports from the technical committee the club has got in contract with Luxemburgo and Raul, the club captain, to tell them the news.

“Juan Ramon Lopez Caro will provisionally take charge of the team.”

Lopez Caro led Real Madrid Castilla into the second division for the first time in eight years last season.

They are currently 11th in the Segunda Division standings with 21 points from 15 games.

Luxemburgo has failed to inspire his men this season and they started today in fourth place in the Primera Liga, three points behind joint leaders Barcelona and Osasuna.

However, that deficit now stands at six points after Osasuna won 2-1 at Malaga and arch-rivals Barca eased to a 2-0 victory at Villarreal.

Real finished four points behind champions Barca last season but their attempts to finish this campaign as top dogs got off to an uncertain start from which they have struggled to recover.

Their first home fixture saw them go down 3-2 at home to Celta Vigo while defeats against Espanyol, Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna put Luxemburgo’s position under threat.

The first real indication that he was in serious trouble came on November 19 when Ronaldinho inspired Barca to a crushing 3-0 win at the Bernabeu.

The domestic troubles have not been replicated in Europe with the club already sure of their place in the last 32 of the Champions League before the last round of games in Group F.