The Spanish club is undefeated in the Europa League finals, and its current coach is the shadow hero of the season
The 62-year-old Sevilla coach, who has become the oldest specialist ever to win the Europa League, José Luis Mendilibar is a modest hero of the spring part of the European football season. The specialist, whose main European achievement was two lost matches to the Romanian Cluj at the helm of Athletic in the already deceased Intertoto Cup of the 2005/2006 season, won the second most important European competition, once again giving Sevilla participation in the Champions League and at least $ 40 million in the budget for next season.
At the same time, in the final, Mendilibar and his team beat Roma José Mourinho, a coach who, as previously thought, would simply never lose in the final. But to appreciate the football feat of a modest Spaniard, it is enough to recall the entire season for Sevilla.
Mendilibar is the third head coach of Sevilla this season. Julen Lopetegui, who led the team since July 2019, was fired in early October. Under his leadership, Sevilla scored five points in seven La Liga matches and one in three Champions League matches. Jorge Sampaoli, who replaced him, held out for five months, leading the team to the quarter-finals of the Europa League (three points in the Champions League, winning the playoffs against PSV, in 1/8 against Fenerbahce), but did not improve the situation in Example: 14th place in the moment of dismissal and only two points clear of the relegation zone (six wins, five draws and eight losses in the championship at Sampaoli). With Sampaoli, Sevilla went through four rounds of the King’s Cup, but in the quarter-finals they flew out from Osasuna.
In mid-January, the position of Sevilla was completely critical: 15 points in 17 matches and penultimate place in the standings.
Mendilibar, replacing Sampaoli, lost only twice in 16 matches in the championship, scoring nine wins and five draws. Under the guidance of a specialist, Sevilla secured a residence in the Example four rounds before the end of the championship. Before the final game day, Sevilla retained the chances of a ticket to the Conference League, lagging behind the seventh position by just one point. But now it doesn’t matter – the team will play in the Champions League group.
Mendilibar is undefeated against Sevilla in the Europa League – two wins and three draws, with one win on penalties. At the same time, in none of the matches, perhaps, with the exception of the final, the Spaniards were not considered the favorites of the confrontation. But nevertheless, Mendilibar and Sevilla overcame Manchester United (2:2 away and 3:0 at home) and Juventus (1:1 away and 2:1 at home), and beat Roma in the decisive match.
Well, some more amazing numbers.
Sevilla won only four out of nine matches in the Europa League, losing two meetings and drawing three matches. In the Champions League, the team has only one win, three losses and two draws.
And Roma defender Gianluca Mancini’s own goal, which allowed Sevilla to equalize, became the second in the history of the Europa League finals. Prior to this, the author of the only own goal in the decisive matches of the tournament was Inter striker Romelu Lukaku, who scored an own goal in the previous final of the tournament with the participation of Sevilla in 2020. And yes, his match was victorious for the Spanish team – 3:2.
What is this, if not a fairy tale and not magic.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
