BARCA BOSS BACK SOON

The Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has cleared any doubts regarding the future of the Tito Vilanova by saying that he will remain as the Barcelona manager next season as well.

The 44-year-old has been undergoing cancer treatment in New York. Since the turn of the year, he has been in the Barcelona dugout for only one match – against Espanyol. His absence from the first team has also coincided with a dip in form for the team, which had been extraordinarily brilliant in the first half of the campaign. Even though there have been talk that Vilanova will be returning to Spain before the end of March, there still remain doubts about his ability to be a full-time manager.

The sporting director Zubizarreta, though, removed the speculation by saying that he certainly expects the 44-year-old to remain as the Barcelona manager.

Zubizarreta also confirmed that the manager is likely to return on March 25. Barcelona have been under the guidance of the assistant manager Jordi Roura, whose ability to manage a club like Barcelona have also been questioned in recent weeks. However, he managed to get his team into the quarter-finals of the Champions league following a 4-2 aggregate win over the Italian club AC Milan. Barcelona were trailing 2-0 on aggregate from the first leg.

“Yes, absolutely. Tito will arrive at the end of March. I don’t know if it will be March 25, we have to be prudent with the date. After that, he will set the agenda. If he wants his first day to be in the morning, afternoon or evening, then fine. He decides. Tito is very well. His appearance, his mood, weight, everything. We’re happy with how the process is going,” said the sporting director. Barcelona do not have to worry about the league form due to the substantial advantage.