How Mendilibar revived Sevilla FC: The best team in Spain since his arrival and one win from another Europa League final | OneFootball

In his eight matchdays in charge of Sevilla FC, he has won six games, drawn one and lost one.

In less than two months on the job, José Luis Mendilibar has managed to change the mood at Sevilla FC entirely. When the 62-year-old was hired to replace Jorge Sampaoli and to become the Andalusian club’s third coach of the season, Sevilla FC sat just two points above the LaLiga Santander relegation zone and the threat of dropping out of the division was a real one.

Now, they are in 10th place and hold a 13-point gap to the bottom three. In his eight LaLiga Santander games in charge of Sevilla FC, Mendilibar has won six, drawn one and lost one. If just looking at the matchdays since Mendilibar’s debut, Sevilla FC would be leaders on 19 points, ahead of Atlético de Madrid (18 points in the same time) and ahead of FC Barcelona and Girona FC (17 points).

Now, Sevilla FC could even qualify for European football for next season, as they are only one point behind Girona FC, who are seventh and who currently hold the last European ticket, that of the Conference League. Victory in Sunday’s Gran Derbi against Real Betis would give Los Rojiblancos an excellent chance of finishing inside the top seven.

Tactically, Mendilibar has made changes and installed a 4-2-3-1 system in which every player fully understands his role. This formation is unlocking Lucas Ocampos’ potential down the right wing, while Youssef En-Nesyri is causing problems for opposition defences as he plays as a natural No.9. At the other end, a goalkeeping change was made and Marko Dmitrović – who Mendilibar knows from his time at SD Eibar – has started each LaLiga Santander game and kept four clean sheets out of eight.

Sevilla FC are dreaming of a seventh Europa League

Never before in his career had Mendilibar coached in UEFA competitions, but he was able to lead Sevilla FC to a 5-2 aggregate victory over Manchester United in the Europa League quarter-finals. The 3-0 second leg win at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán was particularly impressive.

This means Sevilla FC are into the semi-finals of the Europa League, a competition they have already won six times. The Andalusian side visited Juventus for the first leg of their semi-final last Thursday and Mendilibar’s men dominated the Italian outfit in Turin. They took the lead thanks to a Youssef En-Nesyri goal and came close to winning 1-0, but conceded a last-minute equaliser. Even so, the 1-1 draw from the first leg is a good result for Sevilla FC, who head into the second leg with confidence.

This 2022/23 campaign could yet be one to remember. The Andalusian side can now look up the standings and target a top-seven finish, while they’ll also give their all to try to reach the Europa League final. Every other time Sevilla FC have made it this far in that competition they have gone on to win it. Given their improvement under Mendilibar, they can dream.

Watch LaLiga on Viaplay, available in the UK on Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime Video and via streaming.

Don’t miss Gary Lineker hosting coverage of Sevilla FC vs. Real Betis this Sunday from 7:30pm on Viaplay, the home of LaLigaTV in the UK.