On December 28, Beijing time, la Liga relegation team Alaves officially announced the dismissal of coach Caleja, and the two sides terminated their 8-month cooperation.
Last season, after Alavis fired Machin and Abelado in a row, he hired Kaleja to coach. Before Calebja took office, Alaves only scored 23 points at the bottom of the 29th round, while Calebha led Alaves to a good record of 4 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in the last 9 rounds, and finally completed the relegation task with a 4-point advantage.
This season, Alaves is once again in a relegation spiral. They have only scored two points without a win in their last six rounds and have fallen into the relegation zone. Although Alaves shared points with Getafe and Elche in front of him, only because of the goal difference behind the two teams, Alaves decided to sack manager Caleja before playing Real Sociedad at home.
Calhe became Alaves' third manager to be sacked in the last 11 months, and he is also the sixth manager to step down in La Liga this season. Before him, Levante manager López, Getafe manager Michel, Barca manager Coman, Elche manager Esperiba and Levante manager Javier were sacked successively, of which Levante fired two managers in less than 2 months.
Subsequently, Alaves officially announced the 60-year-old Spanish coach Mendilibar as the manager of the team, and the two sides signed until the end of the season. In his 27-year coaching career, Alaves became the 11th team coached by Mendilibal, having previously coached Athletic Bilbao, Valladolid, Osassuna and Levante.