Real Madrid have sacked coach Carlos Queiroz after a disappointing season and appointed former Spain national coach Jose Antonio Camacho to replace him.
Queiroz, the former Manchester United assistant, took charge in June after Real dismissed Vicente del Bosque who led the club to two league titles and two European Cups during his 3-1/2 years in charge.
"We have agreed, by mutual agreement with Carlos Queiroz, that he will not continue with the club," Real Madrid president Florentino Perez told a news conference on Monday.
"We have also agreed to hire Camacho as Real Madrid's new coach," he said after a board meeting held to review the team's humiliating end to the season.
Camacho has been coach of Benfica since November 2002. Benfica lost to Inter Milan in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup this year, finished second in the league and beat Porto 2-1 in the final of the Portuguese Cup.
Real, known as the "galacticos" because of the number of top players in the team, lost their final game of the league season 4-1 to Real Sociedad on Sunday, their fifth loss in a row.
"We have had two very bad months," Perez said. "We must work to correct the mistakes. That's what we are going to do. We have already set about doing it," he said.
"We are going to fight to be always the best.
Real Madrid had an eight-point lead at the top of the table at the start of March but their season collapsed following a surprise 3-2 extra-time defeat against underdogs Real Zaragoza.
Real were knocked out of the Champions League at the start of April when unfancied Monaco, inspired by former Real player Fernando Morientes, dealt them an away-goals defeat in the quarter-finals.
They then self-destructed in the league, taking just three points from their final eight games, a run that left them fourth in the table behind champions Valencia, Barcelona and Deportivo Coruna.
Queiroz warned of Real Madrid's shortcomings when he took charge at the start of the season. His calls for reinforcements in defence went unheeded and he has paid for the club's failure to build a balanced squad.
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