Antic takes charge at Celta Vigo
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- Radomir Antic took over as coach of Celta Vigo on Thursday with a pledge to work as hard as possible to get the club out of trouble in the league.
"I know Celta are in bad shape but I like a challenge," Antic said at his presentation on Thursday. "There will be no lack of effort on my part."
Celta sacked coach Miguel Angel Lotina on Monday after a 5-2 defeat at home to Real Sociedad left the team just a point and a place above the relegation zone.
Antic, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid boss, reached a verbal agreement with Celta on Wednesday and formally took over on Thursday.
Despite their disappointing league form, Celta have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League where they have been drawn against Arsenal.
"It's good to be able to gauge what sort of shape we're in against Arsenal but our first objective has to be the league," Antic said.
Antic has spent most of his coaching career in Spain, starting out with Real Zaragoza in 1988 and moving on to Real Madrid in 1991, although he was sacked midway through the following season while Real were leading the first division.
After a three-year stint at Real Oviedo, he joined Atletico Madrid in 1995, guiding them to the league and King's Cup double in his first season.
He returned to Atletico for two short spells in 1999 and 2000, but was unable to prevent them dropping out of the top flight for the first time in 66 years.
Antic went back to Oviedo the following season, but left at the end of a troubled campaign that ended in relegation. He stayed out of coaching until being called on to replace Louis van Gaal at Barcelona last year.
He helped the team recover from 12th place when he took over to finish the season in sixth and claim a UEFA Cup place, but Barca decided against taking up an optional one-year extension on his contract, appointing Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard instead.
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