Miguel Cardoso, the new Celta Vigo coach, got off to an embarrassing start at the struggling club after mistakenly saying he was taking over at their fierce local rivals Deportivo la Coruña.

The Portuguese worked as an assistant at Celta Vigo's neighbours from 2012 to 2013 and got muddled up in his first news conference on Tuesday after being named as successor to Argentine Antonio Mohamed, who was sacked on Monday.

"I want to thank the president and the sporting director for showing faith in me and my coaching staff to start a new era at Deportivo. . . . I mean Celta," said Cardoso, causing sporting director Felipe Minambres, who sat next to him, to grimace.

Cardoso, who was coach at French side Nantes until Oct 1, takes over a Celta Vigo side who are 14th in La Liga standings, having lost 4-2 at home to Real Madrid on Sunday.