José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born 14 March 1961) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of Super League Greece club Olympiacos.

[2] 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.

[3][4][5] After retiring in 1994, Mendilibar worked in the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao before having spells as head coach at Aurrerá de Vitoria,[6] Lanzarote and Eibar.

[9] 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).

[14] 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.

[18] His first game in charge was a 4–0 home defeat of Espanyol on 20 February,[19] and the Rojillos stayed up on the final day of the campaign with a 1–0 win over Villarreal also at the El Sadar Stadium.

[26] In 2016–17, he led the team to a best-ever quarter-final finish in the domestic cup before an injury-stripped squad lost 5–2 on aggregate to Atlético Madrid;[27] he and Asier Garitano of Leganés were joint recipients of the year's Miguel Muñoz Trophy for best manager.

[33] In the first European games of his career since Athletic's Intertoto elimination by Cluj in 2005,[34] his team beat Manchester United 5–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League;[35] they eventually won the competition, defeating Roma in Budapest 4–1 on penalties following a 1–1 draw.