Rijkaard to leave Barca, Guardiola to take charge

Frank Rijkaard will leave Barcelona at the end of the season and former captain Pep Guardiola will take over as coach of the team, club president Joan Laporta announced.

Former Netherlands international Rijkaard took charge of Barcelona in 2003 and led them to back-to-back league titles and victory in the Champions League in 2006.

However, his side have failed to win any silverware for the past two seasons and suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat by arch-rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday.

That defeat combined with Villarreal's victory over Recreativo Huelva means the Catalans will miss out on automatic qualification for the Champions League and cannot finish any higher than third in the Primera Liga.

"The cycle is finished because the results haven't gone our way," Laporta said. "The situation was very disappointing last season.

"We haven't been able to correct the errors that were committed then and we have decided that Frank should be relieved of his post at the end of the season."

Rijkaard's contract was due to run to 2009.

Born to the north of Barcelona, the 37-year-old Guardiola made his name at Barca as a cultured midfielder in the early 1990s when Johan Cruyff was manager.

He quickly established himself as a favourite at the Nou Camp and became one of the key players in Cruyff's so-called "Dream team" which won four consecutive league titles between 1991 and 1994 and the European Cup in 1992.