José Luis Mendilibar

Mendilibar was born in Zaldibar, Basque Country. He enjoyed an average career as a player, never appearing for a club in La Liga and successively representing Bilbao Athletic, Logroñés, Sestao and Lemona. Mendilibar was a key player in midfield for Sestao during the side's Segunda División years – playing eight seasons with them in that level and appearing in nearly 300 competitive matches – narrowly missing out on promotion in 1986–87 under Javier Irureta.

Early years

After retiring in 1994, Mendilibar worked in the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao before having spells as head coach at Aurrerá de Vitoria, Lanzarote and Eibar. His success with the latter in the second division, on a very limited budget, translated into a narrow miss on promotion in 2005.

Athletic Bilbao

Mendilibar returned to Athletic in June 2005. His debut was the first European match of his career, a 1–0 away loss against Romania's CFR Cluj on 2 July in the second round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup (aggregate draw, elimination on penalties). His first top-flight game was a 3–0 home win over Real Sociedad in the Basque derby on 27 August. Having not added any more victories in the ensuing nine games of the season, Mendilibar was its first manager to be sacked. He was replaced by Javier Clemente on 31 October.

Valladolid

In June 2006, Mendilibar was appointed at Real Valladolid in the second division. His team won promotion as champions in his first season, earning a record 88 points and going on a 29-game unbeaten run to secure their place in the top flight with eight fixtures remaining. In the same campaign, they reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey with aggregate victories over Gimnàstic de Tarragona and Villarreal from the league above. Mendilibar's team retained their league status from 2007 to 2009. On 1 February 2010, after a 1–1 home draw against Almería left them one point above the relegation places, he was…

Basconia

Tercera División: 1997–98 Valladolid

Segunda División: 2006–07 Sevilla

UEFA Europa League: 2022–23 Olympiacos

Super League Greece: 2024–25 Greek Cup: 2024–25 Greek Super Cup: 2025 UEFA Conference League: 2023–24 Individual

La Liga Manager of the Month: February 2017 Miguel Muñoz Trophy: 2016–17 Gazzetta Awards Manager of the Year in Greece: 2024 Super League Greece Manager of the Season: 2024–25