Real Madrid fires coach Bernd Schuster

The Associated Press , Madrid Tue, 12/09/2008 9:16 PM Sports Real Madrid has fired Bernd Schuster two days after the German coach said it would be "impossible" for the two-time defending Spanish champion to win against Barcelona next Saturday. Former Tottenham and Sevilla coach Juande Ramos will immediately replace the 49-year-old Schuster, who was let go only six months after guiding the Spanish powerhouse to its record 31st league title. Fifth-placed Madrid trails leader Barcelona by nine points going into Saturday's "classico" derby. Schuster said Sunday after a 4-3 home defeat to Sevilla that Madrid "would try to play a good game" but that this was Barcelona's season. "Madrid is a team that whichever game it has to play it will go in with maximum motivation to play it," said Ramos, who takes over for the remainder of the season. "Barcelona is playing really well but Madrid is playing well enough to not renounce a victory in any stadium in the world." Ramos is the eighth coach to lead the Spanish club since it fired Vicente del Bosque in 2003. The 54-year-old Ramos' first match in charge will be against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday. Sports director Pedja Mijatovic said that after a Tuesday morning meeting with the board of directors, Schuster and Madrid parted ways "amicably." "We talked about all of the difficulties that we had over the past months ... and we decided to take this decision," Mijatovic said. "He accepted it with great humility." Schuster joined Madrid from Getafe last July, replacing current England coach Fabio Capello, who was fired after leading Madrid to its first league title in four years to snap its longest trophy drought for 53 years. Schuster, who had a contract through 2010, promptly defended the league title easily as Madrid finished 18 points ahead of bitter rival Barcelona. "He did a great job last year and we hoped things would work out, but as you know in the world of football their are streaks you can't shake," Mijatovic said. "We enjoyed our time with him." But fifth-ranked Madrid, which has already qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League, has lost three of its last four league games and is in the middle of an injury crisis. Only three weeks ago, Mijatovic backed Schuster to continue "barring a catastrophe." But Schuster's comments about the match against Barcelona, where he all but threw in the towel, were never likely to be well received. "At the Camp Nou now, it's not possible to win," Schuster said after the match against Sevilla. "They (Barcelona) are playing really well there and it's their year. We can just try and hopefully play a good game." Schuster added that the way Barcelona was "demolishing" opponents, with the Catalans scoring an average of three goals a game, meant that it was their year. Barcelona is unbeaten in 20 matches in all competitions. The news of Schuster's firing comes during a turbulent time at the Spanish powerhouse, with president Ramon Calderon just surviving a vote of confidence at the club's general assembly on Sunday. Three days prior, the youth director quit the club citing Calderon's neglect as the reason for his leaving. Ramos led Sevilla to back-to-back UEFA Cup titles and a Copa del Rey trophy before taking over at Tottenham in October 2007. But he was fired by Spurs after its worst league start for 100 years, only six months after guiding Tottenham to its first trophy since 1999 in February with a League Cup triumph. Schuster was a former star for Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Besides Getafe, Schuster has also coached Spain's Levante - which he led to promotion to the first division in 2004 - Germany's Cologne, Spanish second-division side Xerez, and Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.