(Football news) José Luis Mendilibar has completely changed the atmosphere at Sevilla FC in less than a month since starting his job. Sevilla FC was just two points above the LaLiga Santander relegation zone when the 62-year-old was hired to succeed Jorge Sampaoli and become the Andalusian club’s third coach of the season. The fear of being eliminated from the division was very serious.

They currently enjoy a 12-point lead over the bottom three teams after claiming seven of the nine points available in Mendilibar’s first three LaLiga Santander games. Following a 2-0 victory at Cádiz CF, Los Nervionenses drew RC Celta to a 2-2 tie while playing with just 10 players from the 20th minute onward. Then, on Sunday evening in Matchday 29, Mendilibar’s team flew to Mestalla to play Valencia CF in a game for relegation-clinching six points. They defeated Valencia CF 2-0 thanks to goals from Loc Badé and Suso.

There is now a sigh of relief from the Sevilla FC supporters. Despite the fact that no one at the club believes the relegation fight is over, the team’s recent resurgence has already helped to drastically lower the risk.

Fans are currently daydreaming of winning the Europa League. Sevilla FC is the most successful club in the history of that competition, having won the cup six times. They are still very much in the 2022–23 season after Mendilibar’s team gained a 2-2 draw away at Manchester United in their quarterfinal tie’s first leg. Los Nervionenses had a poor start to that game, but they controlled the last period and scored two fortunate own goals before even trying to win it that night. The Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán will be filled to the gills with spectators for the second leg of a tie this Thursday.

Improving Sevilla FC’s road performance

Thursday’s match between Sevilla FC and Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán will be Mendilibar’s second appearance in the home dugout. This is due to the fact that he has won all four of his matches thus far, four of which have taken place on the road. 

Mendilibar has restored organisation and trust to this unit, which is allowing them to travel to any venue and perform, which has been a concern for the team’s poor away form all season. Given that they had only managed two away victories out of 13

away league games prior to the Basque coach’s hiring, Sevilla FC’s success in the LaLiga Santander on the road has already reached two games.

The coach has implemented a 4-2-3-1 system with tweaks to the tactics, and each player is aware of his exact responsibilities. While Youssef En-Nesyri is causing issues for opposing defences by playing as a natural No. 9, Lucas Ocampos’ potential is being unlocked down the right wing thanks to this formation. On the other end, a goalkeeper switch was made, and Marko Dmitrovi, who Mendilibar is familiar with from his time at SD Eibar, has started every LaLiga Santander game and has maintained two clean sheets out of three, while Bono was able to utilise his international experience while starting at Old Trafford.

The possibility that things could get even better is what Sevilla FC supporters find most intriguing. In the first four games of Mendilibar’s tenure, there have been injuries and suspensions, but now that certain players are returning, he wants the club to play even better.

Even the coach conceded that the performance-based expectations were exceeded by the outcomes thus far, said that, “If you don’t play so well but the results are good then you gain confidence because you realise that, when you do play well, things will go even better. We are working to be more organised and, from there, we can start to play better. We’re clinical in front of goal right now and that has been key.”

This 2022–23 season might end up being one to remember if Sevilla FC’s finest is yet to come. The Andalusian team can now assess the standings and aim for a top-half finish. They will also give it their all on Thursday to try to advance to the Europa League semi-finals. Sevilla FC has advanced thus far in that competition before, and each time they have done so, they have gone on to win it. They may dream because of the progress they made under Mendilibar.

Also read: 10 things we discovered about La Liga Santander this past week