BARCELONA COACH Tito Vilanova has had a relapse just over a year after having surgery to remove a tumour from a salivary gland, Spanish sports media said today.
“Relapse in Tito illness. Barca coach hit with return of the cancer he had in 2011,” said the Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo, with the same claim carried on the Internet site of the Sport publication.
The Liga leaders said only in a statement that a scheduled news conference for lunchtime with Barca president Sandro Rossell had been cancelled, as had a planned Christmas meal with the media.
Vilanova, 42, has been Barca manager since the departure of Pep Guardiola earlier this year. He underwent an operation to remove a tumour on his parotid gland — the largest of the salivary glands — in November 2011.