Clash at Montjuïc: Mendilibar’s Grim Barça Ledger Meets Barcelona in Europe
21 October 2025
Head-to-head reality: Mendilibar's record against Barça
Fans in Europe turn their eyes to Montjuïc as Barcelona host Olympiakos in the Champions League, with Spanish coach José Luis Mendilibar facing a familiar, stern test against Barça and the weight of a long, hard-won career behind him.
According to Sport, Mendilibar's numbers against Barcelona are brutally clear: 27 encounters, only one win, and a trail of defeats and draws. His sole victory came in February 2012 when he coached Osasuna in a 3-2 home win, a result achieved thanks to Lekic and Raul Garcia, while Alexis Sanchez and Cristian Téo scored for Barça under Pep Guardiola.
That triumph remains the lone three-point haul against Barça in Mendilibar's coaching history, with just three draws scattered across his spells with other clubs like Eibar. In this context, the contrast with Barcelona's legendary consistency against him is stark.
Barça stands as the third opponent Mendilibar has faced most often across six different clubs—Sevilla, Alavés, Eibar, Levante, Osasuna and Valladolid—a ledger that makes this encounter feel like a familiar, uneasy reunion.
Their last point against Barça outside the league came away at Eibar on December 29, 2020, a 1-1 draw. In that game, Barcelona lined up a strong XI featuring players such as Miralem Pjanic, Clement Lenglet, Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest, and Junior Firpo, while Kike Garcia opened the scoring for Eibar before Ousmane Dembele equalized ten minutes later.
On the eve of the clash at Montjuïc, Mendilibar acknowledged the scale of the task, knowing Olympiakos has faced Barça only twice in Champions League group stages (2017-2018) and that history is rarely forgiving. The Spaniard aims to write a different chapter, but history, as they say, has a nasty habit of showing up late to parties.
Historically, Mendilibar's journey has been defined by a fighter's ethos. He began as a defensive midfielder before turning to coaching, climbing from the lower rungs of Spanish football to the main stages of La Liga and beyond. His path is marked by discipline, tactical acuity, and a relentless belief in team unity over star power.
His breakthrough came at Eibar, which he steered from second division struggles to a stable La Liga presence across six seasons, delivering notable results through a pragmatic approach centered on pressing, long balls, and quick transitions. This philosophy won him respect as a coach who can squeeze value from limited resources and make cohesion count over charisma.
Later, Mendilibar took charge at Sevilla in 2023, rescuing them from relegation danger and lifting the Europa League under dramatic circumstances, before moving abroad to Olympiakos. Across these steps, his identity as a “fighter” coach has endured: honest, direct, and relentlessly obsessed with collective effort rather than headlines.
Today, in Greece and in Europe, Mendilibar continues to test himself against elite opponents, keeping faith with a simple creed: resilience, discipline, and a shared purpose can rival bigger budgets and brighter names. If his teams occasionally stumble, they always fight to stay standing—an ethic that makes him a memorable figure in a sport that often celebrates flash more than grit.
Two punchlines to close the scouting report: 1) In football, you don’t win games, you survive the spreadsheet of injuries and suspensions—which Mendilibar seems to audit with a smile. 2) If optimism were a formation, Mendilibar would push it into a 4-4-2 with a high-pressing defense and a long ball to victory, because who needs flair when you’ve got a calculator and a stubborn heart?
