Sevilla sack lopetegui after loss to Dortmund
Sevilla have officially announced the sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui shortly after a humiliating 4-1 defeat at home to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The club is expected to confirm the return of coach Jorge Sampaoli in the coming days.
The heavy loss to Dortmund almost ended Sevilla’s chances of advancing to the 1/8th round of the Champions League.
They had previously lost 4-0 at home to City and drew 0-0 in Copenhagen.
Currently, Sevilla is 5 points behind Borussia Dortmund and 8 points behind Man.City after only 3 group matches.
Lopetegui was with Sevilla for 3 years, he led the team to the Europa League title in 2020, and consecutively finished in 4th place in La Liga.
However, after so many problems in the summer, especially the departure of the excellent centre-back duo Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde, Sevilla’s fragility has been evident.
Sevilla have so far won only once in 10 matches in all competitions, in which they have also fallen to 17th place in La Liga.
Lopetegui’s dismissal was only considered a matter of time because negotiations with Sampaoli were widely reported by the Spanish press.
And the 56-year-old Spaniard emotionally bid farewell to the fans who chanted his name after the loss to Dortmund: “I don’t want to talk about whether the club disrespected me or not.
This is not the time to talk about that.
What I want to say now is that I am very grateful to everyone and very sad to have to leave a club that I love so much. Sevilla will forever be in my heart.”
Lopetegui was scheduled to take part in a farewell event for the club on Thursday.
Sevilla announced his dismissal with a social media post and video thanking him.
In his 170 games with Sevilla in all competitions, Lopetegui helped the team to 89 wins, 45 draws and 36 losses.
Currently, it is also reported that the former Spain and Real Madrid coach has been linked with a vacant position at Premier League club Wolves.
