Given Sevilla’s appeal following the sacking of Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, Mendilibar responded and then some.

Within days, the Spanish side knocked Manchester Utd out of the Europa League quarter-finals, scoring two dramatic goals to salvage a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, before winning the second leg in Andalusia 3-0.

They then got past Juventus in the semi-finals after extra time before going the distance in the final, beating Roma on penalties. It was a result that then-Roma manager Jose Mourinho insisted he would not admit so much to his frustration at Mendilibar getting his hands on the trophy and his belief that the result was unfair.

The honeymoon didn’t last long, however, and he was relieved of his duties just four months later after a poor start to the season.

Incredibly, after 12 months, he received another call, this time from Greece. Olympiakos needed a manager and Mendilibar accepted the challenge.

Within days, he was back in continental competition and guiding the Greek giants to their first European final.

He had to outplay continental specialist and countryman Unai Emery on the road, beating his Aston Villa side in the semi-finals of the Conference League, before creating more history as they overcame Fiorentina in the final in Athens .

This meant that Mendilibar followed Rafa Benitez in winning back-to-back European trophies with two different clubs.

However, perhaps more importantly, it meant a Greek club won a European honor for the first time and ended a 13-year reign by the big four leagues in an era when those competitions and teams are increasingly stronger and stronger.

Only clubs from Spain, England, Italy and Germany had captured the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League since Porto’s victory over Braga in the secondary tournament in Dublin in 2011. Until Olympiakos of course.

That success tempered domestic disappointment at the club, who finished third in the Greek Super League behind champions PAOK, who won the title for only the fourth time, and neighbors AEK Athens.