Sevilla FC coach, Jose Luis Mendilibar, admitted it was a “great pleasure” to return after extra time against Juventus this Thursday after reaching the Europa League final, under a “wonderful” atmosphere at Ramon Sanchez-Pizuan.
«It is a surprise, we have come to try to do the best possible and everything is going well. The results in the league have been good and we have knocked out United and Juventus. We are not pitted against another great team and a great coach in Budapest,” he said in statements to Movistar Plus gathered by Europa Press.
The Basque coach admitted to being surprised by what Nervion had achieved in just two months on the bench. «I feel very happy, people are happy. When we arrived, I didn’t expect that we would achieve something like this, but we did. We have done everything efficiently. We were dominant, they tried to surprise us at the counter. They go on and look like they’ve done it all,” he said.
« We have had the tie that gave us wings and the second one has come at the beginning of extra time. The atmosphere in the stadium has been amazing, sensational. I didn’t live it. I pay attention to the atmosphere at the start of the game, then I don’t know what happens in the stands. The applause from all sides has been amazing, it has all been great,” he said.
Mendy, on the other hand, acknowledged the success of the changes, with Suso and Lamela leaping off the bench to score. «Suso hasn’t trained with the group for 10 days, he told me during the week that he came there to compete. What he has done he has done very well. We told ‘Coco’ that he has to go further in the auction, and in one of them he scored the second goal,” he said.
«When these days pass, when I am on vacation, I look back and think that we have achieved great things in a great team. This is the most talented team I have ever seen as players. It’s easy working with such a great group.”
Furthermore, the Andalusian coach mentioned Mourinho’s duel with Roma in the Grand Final in Budapest on 31 May. «I went to see him train a few years ago, when he was in Madrid. We had very little with him, we talked more with Karanka,” he recalled, praising the Portuguese for having a long career like his own, though “always in front and winning a lot.”
