"The administration of the club has decided that at the end of this season Frank Rijkaard will cease to be the coach of Barcelona," Laporta said.

"The position will be occupied by Josep Guardiola," he told a press conference on Thursday.

Guardiola spent 11 years playing for Barcelona. He has been in charge of the club's B team for the last 12 months.

Dutch coach Rijkaard took over at Barcelona in 2003. He steered the club to two Primera Liga titles and one Champions League triumph.

However, things did not go so well afterwards.

The Catalans have ended a second successive season without any silverware.

They crashed out of the UEFA Champions League semi final at the hands of Manchester United.

Barcelona also failed to mount a serious challenge for the Primera Liga title, which was won by arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Barca suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in El Clasico on Wednesday.