Julen Lopetegui is not the most popular manager in La Liga, with a slightly prickly and serious manner. But teams get him in because he can coach, and his results since taking over at Sevilla show how efficiently he delivers.
Their win on Friday night puts them on 60 points for the season, and as AS pointed out today, makes him the first Sevilla coach to manage that in three seasons.
It’s a sign of how well he’s turned things around in Andalusia that reaching second and 60 points a year has quickly become the norm – nobody is really talking about an exceptional seasons for his team this season, despite the fact they’re in second place.
It’s easy to forget that this is one of Spain’s historic teams that had really been in a bad way for some time before Lopetegui arrived, and he really has restored them back to where they belong.