Barcelona mourns fourced exit of coach Tito Vilanova due to throat cancer treatment

Barcelona were mourning the enforced exit of ailing coach Tito Vilanova yesterday, but there was also a sense the Spanish champions were prepared to move swiftly to appoint a successor and focus on preparations for next season.

President Sandro Rosell made the announcement late on Friday that Vilanova, who has been battling throat cancer the past two years, needed more treatment that meant he would be unable to remain in charge of the first team.

A replacement for the 44-year-old, who was promoted from assistant coach to succeed Pep Guardiola at the end of the 2011-12 season, was likely to be announced early this week, Rosell added.

Many of the first team squad were at Rosell's news conference, including World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, and the club cancelled a friendly they were due to play against Polish side Lechia Gdansk yesterday, and suspended training until tomorrow.

"Life goes on," Rosell said. "Obviously, this is a very hard blow to take, but Barca has suffered many blows in our history and we have always come through. This will be no different."

"Stay strong Tito! We are all with you in this fight!" Messi wrote on his Facebook page.