Mendilibar’s simple football fetches Sevilla’s record seventh
Hindustan TimesJose Mourinho hadn’t got this right: Jose Luis Mendilibar has less white hair. Paulo Dybala’s slick left-footer was cancelled with Gianluca Mancini’s own-goal – it was the third time Sevilla benefited from this in the competition after two against Manchester United– and Sevilla won from a tie-breaker penalty that had to be retaken to decide an attritional tie that began in May and ended in June. Even in a La Liga season where they were only two points clear of the drop zone in March and 11th now – if they finish there, it will be their worst since promotion in 2000-01 – Sevilla managed to go all the way, the 5 -1 result at Budapest’s Puskas Arena confirming another Champions League season. Other teams would have focused on the league in such a situation but it couldn’t be that at Sevilla where Europa League trophies are displayed in the change rooms. Yet, in the middle of all this and right after Atletico Madrid drubbed them 6-1, Sevilla beat Fenerbahce 2-0 in the Europa League.