Olympiakos: Jose Luis Mendilibar taking Rangers’ hosts to new heights

Given the call by Sevilla in the wake of their sacking of Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, Mendilibar answered and then some.

Within days, the Spaniard’s side had knocked Manchester Utd out of the Europa League quarter-finals, scoring two dramatic late goals to salvage a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford before winning the return in Andalusia 3-0.

They then squeezed past Juventus in the semis after extra time before going the distance in the final, beating Roma on penalties. It was an outcome that the then Roma manager, Jose Mourinho, insisted he would not recognise such was his frustration that Mendilibar had got his hands on the trophy and his belief that the outcome was unjust.

The honeymoon did not last long, though, and he was relieved of his duties just four months later after a poor start to the season.

Incredibly, 12 months on, 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 outfox continental specialist and countryman Unai Emery en route, beating his Aston Villa side in the Conference League semi-finals 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 had won a European honour for the first time and ended a 13-year stranglehold by the big four leagues in an era when those competitions and teams are getting more and more powerful.

Only clubs from Spain, England, Italy and Germany had got their hands on 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 the club’s domestic disappointment as they finished third in the Greek Super League behind champions PAOK, who won the title for just a fourth time, and neighbours AEK Athens.