Nine years ago, on April 25, 2014, Barcelona fans and part of the football world dressed in mourning for the death of Francesc Vilanova Bayó, better known as Tito Vilanova. The former coach of FC Barcelona passed away almost a decade ago after fighting for three years with cancer in the parotid gland. Today, the club and players who shared a dressing room with him have had a memory with his figure through social networks.
“Mai t’oblidarem, Tito”. With this message he has remembered the club that was his coach during one of the most successful times for the Barça team. Along with the message, an image of Tito in front of a sign that reads “Semper eternity”.
Tito was Pep Guardiola’s second coach for five years: one year from when he made his debut at Barça B until the four years in which he won everything with the first team. Once the man from Santpedor decided not to continue leading the club in 2012, Andoni Zubizarreta, sports director, gave the man who had been his shadow for years an alternative.
With the man from Bellcaire at the helm of Barça, he did not lose his essence and continued to play at the same level as with his predecessor. From the beginning of the season, the blaugrana team led the league, which they would finally take by adding 100 points, a record in the club’s history. However, already during that course, Vilanova had to lead the team on several occasions from New York, where he was undergoing treatment.
The worst news came during the 2013 preseason. Vilanova had suffered a relapse and had to be treated again. Sandro Rosell then hired Tata Martino as a new coach. It was a strange season in which the defects prevailed over the virtues of that team. After a year of treatment, Tito Vilanova passed away on April 25, 2014.
