Manchester United – Sevilla: Mendilibar and the value of the classic | Sports

The first thing that José Luis Mendilibar (Zaldibar; Bizkaia; 62 years old) noticed in his first days at Sevilla was a strong hoarseness. Accustomed to walking with his wife through the Biscayan forests since he stopped coaching Eibar and then Alavés, the Basque received a call from Monchi, Sevilla’s sports director, which changed his life and made him coach of the Andalusian team . The screams in training and in the band took their toll on him. Three weeks after its presentation, the veteran coach’s Sevilla has achieved four points out of six in the League (victory against Cádiz and draw with Celta) and is preparing to face the quarterfinals of the Europa League against Manchester United ( 9:00 p.m. Movistar LC).

“I don’t want us to play backwards.” This sentence was one of the ones that initially impressed the Sevilla players the most, installed in a tactical stagnation at the hands of Jorge Sampaoli. Since his arrival, Mendilibar has undertaken a process of simplification that is being appreciated by his footballers. “He is direct and, for the moment, his message is permeating the footballers, who believe in him,” say Sevilla sources. In this simplification process, the club is surprised by details that seem insignificant, but are important. For example, he has not requested any computer equipment or cameras to analyze plays and practices. He only asked for Fran Rico as second and Toni Ruiz as physical trainer, whom he has known since his time at Lanzarote, in 2002. The rest of the staff is from the club, such as the goalkeeper trainer or the recoverers and analysts. “He says things by his name,” they say in the entity.

Mendilibar does not summon the footballers the night before the matches and only summons them for lunch and rest before the matches. Submitted to the distance from Sampaoli, who kept his distance from the players, they have been surprised by the proximity of a coach who does not hesitate to play cards with them on the bus. Of course, when he has to impose himself, he does it. Many remember the strong anger that he threw at En-Nesyri for taking off his shirt after scoring a goal against Celta and earning the yellow card. “I don’t understand the things that the players do. They know that if they take off their shirt when they score a goal, they will get yellow. It’s for fools and don’t do it again”, highlighted the Basque at the end of the clash.

The members of the squad have also been surprised by Mendilibar’s loud whistles from the band. A whole song to the football of a lifetime. The coach does not care that the footballers call him mountain. “No one calls me José Luis,” this coach clarified to the club’s official media, a frustrated pelotari and player for Bilbao Athletic and Sestao under the orders of Javier Irureta, whom he idolizes.

Mendilibar is still installed in a hotel in Seville. His wife, an English teacher, arrived at Easter. Both enjoyed Holy Tuesday in the capital of Andalusia. His eldest son, Aitor, is a film director. Focused on training and a tough schedule, Mendilibar has hardly come out in the middle. On the few occasions that he has done so, the comments made by Betis fans, Sevilla’s eternal rival, have caught his attention. “It is being somewhat hard for him to settle in Seville because he had been residing in his house for eight years,” they highlight in the entity. The coach lives in Zaldibar and traveled to Eibar and Vitoria in his last two experiences as a coach.

Mendilibar will sit on the bench at Old Trafford at the age of 62 and 18 after his only European experience, a round of the Intertoto Cup with Athletic in which he lost to Romanian Cluj. With 450 matches of experience in the First Division, the wait has been worth it. “It has not touched me in the raffle to be here, there is a trajectory,” said Mendilibar himself in the Old Trafford press room.

He won the title whenever he reached the quarterfinals

Manchester received the Seville expedition with 20 degrees less than it was in the capital of Andalusia at the time of departure. Sevilla has two pleasant experiences against the historic English team, which they defeated five years ago in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Two goals from Ben Yedder finished José Mourinho’s United (1-2) after the 0-0 first leg. In the semifinals of the Europa League 19-20, played in a single match due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sevilla won 2-1, winning the final against Inter. The Andalusian team, despite their delicate situation in the League (13th) is still alive in Europe in a tournament that they have won six times (the most). Whenever he reached the quarterfinals, he ended up lifting the Cup.

You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook y Twitterpoint here to receive our weekly newsletter.