Jose Luis Mendilibar’s service sheet has been almost spotless since coming to the Sevilla bench. He has led the side in eleven matches with seven wins, three draws, and one loss. If a magnifying glass is applied to Ramon Sánchez-Pizzuan’s away matches, the partial figures of four wins and two draws increase even more. The draw was in two European games, one that was about to be lost—in Manchester—and the other that should have been and won until the very last game, in Turin. Without those two draws in UEL, there are four wins left in the same number of games for the team in La Liga, A full season that has no precedent in the highest division for Sevilla FC. So much so, that in the last league clash away from home, in San Mames, Mandelibar managed to reach the highest level in this figure, something that it has now managed to overcome on its own.
12 out of 12 possible After defeating Cadiz CF, Valencia CF, Athletic Club, and Real Valladolid at home, As if this was not enough, in the first four wins out of four, the team has allowed itself the luxury of making it very difficult for the next guys to achieve it, as they have unbeaten results in the full season with those four games. Numbers that reflect the effectiveness of the way the team plays in these placements, being very serious at the back and knowing how to take advantage of situations of the match and of the opponent to turn it in his favor. All four of these games came goalless at halftime and were resolved in the second half.
Interestingly, there was no precedent in terms of four straight wins but was unbeaten away from home in all those consecutive minutes. The results of that streak are even more curious Four 0–0 draws followed at the start of the 2011/12 season. It was fielded by CA Osasuna, FC Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, and RCD Mallorca, respectively. Even the fifth match was without a defeat, which is the team’s record away from home without conceding a goal, although unlike the previous four, which were with Marcelino on the bench, it ended in a victory, for Sevilla. Take Unai Emery at the start. A 0-1 in Zaragoza. The next league visit will be in Elche in just ten days, a team that has already been relegated but this Sunday beat Atlético de Madrid in their fiefdom, which was second in the table this.
