Jose Mourinho Departing Real Madrid After 3 Seasons

The 2012-2013 season was certainly not one of the best in recent memory for Real Madrid. With only two matches remaining this year, Madrid will usher in a new era at the end of the campaign, as the club will welcome a new manager to the sideline to start the 2013-2014 football season.

In a move that will not surprise most fans, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is set to leave the club at the conclusion of the current schedule.

"We've decided to bring our relationship to an end at the end of the current season," Real president Florentino Perez said to ESPN. "The club and manager agree the timing is right to bring our relationship to an end. On behalf of the board of directors would like to thank Jose Mourinho for all his hard work. The team have improved in his three years and we wish him all the best. It was the right moment."

Although he posted a 122-22-37 record in three seasons on the Madrid sideline, the 50-year-old manager was expected to guide the club to multiple championships and bring to an end the absolute dominance Barcelona had in league play, something the club struggled with at times during his reign.

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Unable to reach a Champions League final during his three campaigns, Mourinho was able to guide Real Madrid to the 2008 La Liga title and the 2011 Copa del Rey championship. Real fell to rival Atletico Madrid last week in the 2013 Copa del Rey title match, suffering their first loss to Atletico in 14 seasons.

While rumors have been circulating about the coach's possible replacement, it is largely expected that Mourinho will join the English football club Chelsea, a squad he coached from 2004 through 2007. Viewed by many as the best manager in the game, Chelsea would welcome their former coach back with open arms.

"He galvanizes people. His own self-confidence reflects back on his teams," Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard said to Talk Sport radio earlier. "What he does is he gets the best out of players and gets this togetherness that I'd never known until he came to the club and I haven't seen it again since then."

One potential replacement for Mourinho at Real Madrid could be current Paris Saint-Germain manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Ancelotti recently guided PSG to their first Ligue 1 title in 19 seasons and while he is very much interested in departing the French power for Real Madrid, it does not look as though it will be easy for him to get out of his current contract with the club and President Nasser Al Khelaifi.

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"Yes, we had discussions, he asked to depart for Real Madrid," Al Khelaifi said to reporters from The Guardian. "I said it is not possible because he has a contract for one year more, so that is our decision."

Ancelotti responded with his intention to depart the club, although he has enjoyed his stay with PSG and has built great relationships.

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"My decision is to leave the club," Ancelotti said. "It is not easy because I have had a very good relationship with everyone. It is not the time to explain the reason why I wish to leave the club, and perhaps I will never explain it."

It remains to be seen where Mourinho goes from here, although it is widely assumed he'll return to Chelsea.

Whoever replaces the coach will certainly be looked upon as the person who will lead Real past Barca in league play while making a return to the Champions League final, something Jose Mourinho struggled to do in his three seasons on the sideline.