One year ago, on May 31, 2023, Jose Luis Mendilibar he raised the Europa League in the sky of Budapest, which he won at the head of Seville and in an epic way, through sanctions against Romethen directed by Jose Mourinho (4-1 after 1-1). Twelve months later, on May 29, 2024, Mendilibar won the Conference League with Olympiacos in Athens (1-0 against Fiorentina). The first European title at club level for Greek football.
Which Mendilibar was achieved is a real feat: reached February Olympiacos and take them to their first European final, also leaving the semifinals Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, the fourth in the Premier 2023-24. And win it. When the Basque coach landed in the Piraeus team, Olympiacos He has had three coaches so far this season: Diego Martínez, Carlos Carvajal and temporary Sotiris Silaidopoulos.
It went from deed to deed Mendilibar in this Conference League. His Olympiacos came back from 1-6 to 1-4 in the first leg of the round of 16 Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Greek team eliminated the penalties Fenerbahçe in quarters and then left Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in the semi-finals with two wins: 2-4 and 2-0.
like that Olympiacos became, with the help of the Basque coach, the second Greek team to reach a European final (Panathinaikos did it before in 1970-71, in the European Cup, which they lost against Ajax led by Johan Cruyff by 2-0).
Property Mendilibar He explained before the final that it all came to him, at 63 years old, “almost at the end of my career, I was in teams where the job was to save the category, which is also a great success.” Vicente Iborraorigin of Olympiacoswon three Europa Leagues including Seville (2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16) and one with Villarreal (2020-21) before this Conference League.
Before the start of the final, the Zaldibar coach received a heartfelt hug from Ernesto Valverdeformer technician Olympiacos (with whom he won, in his two seasons, three Greek Leagues and two Cups), who did not want to miss this historic final.
Mendilibar is worth several legends
Until this Wednesday, only five coaches had won two different continental titles in a row. Bob Paisley won the UEFA Cup with Liverpool in 1976 and the European Cup in 1977. Nero Rocco He was champion of the Cup Winners’ Cup (1968) and the European Cup (1969) as coach of Milan. Giovanni Trapattoni won the Juventus the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983-84 and the European Cup in 1984-85.
And in the present century they achieved it Jose Mourinho (with the Porto the UEFA Cup 2002-03 and the Champions League 2003-04) and Rafael Benitez (UEFA 2004 with Valencia) and Champions 2005 with Liverpool). This Wednesday it’s the same for everyone Mendilibar
Mendilibar and his OlympiacosIn an epic victory, in extra time, they were able to reign over Olympus. cried the Fiorentinawho had already lost in last year’s Conference League final by going down at the end against West Ham.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
