Former Wolves striker Rafa Mir was in action against Manchester City in the Champions League last night – and really impressed at the Etihad Stadium.
The star featured in a right wing/centre forward role against Pep Guardiola’s side, in the final group stages match.
Sevilla, under the guidance of Jorge Sampaoli after the sacking on Julen Lopetegui a few weeks ago, actually gave a fairly decent account of themselves.
It has not been a good start this season at all for the club.
In the league, they currently sit 18th in the table.
Like Wolves, they’ve won just two games so far, and have found the going tough.
Last night, Sevilla were looking to ensure their place in the Europa League.
They ended up losing 3-1, but bottom club Copenhagen could only draw 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund.
Sevilla didn’t really play like a side that has been struggling, and it was former Wanderers striker Mir who really caught the eye for the visitors.
The 25-year-old was easily Sevilla’s biggest threat, and outpaced Sergio Gomez down the right side a few times in the first-half.
On 30 minutes, Mir peeled away into space on a corner and looped a free header into the far corner.
It was a really well taken goal, although City’s defending was questionable.
That was only Mir’s second of the season, and first in this Champions League campaign.
Good to see former Wolves player Rafa Mir shining against the best in the Champions League
City did not put out a full strength side last night, given they had already sealed qualification to the knockout stages.
But regardless of that, Mir looked really impressive in Manchester.
He made life quite uncomfortable for Gomez, who is no slouch.
He was easily Sevilla’s best player, and he actually could have had a hat-trick had he been a bit more clinical.
Former Wolves manager Bruno Lage called Mir ‘a top player’ just before the striker left Molineux.
Ultimately, he decided he would be better served leaving Wolves in order to get regular game time.
He had excelled during a loan spell with SD Huesca, and clearly felt returning to his homeland again would be a good move for him.
For Wolves to have gotten just under £14 million for him was seen as good business considering he only had a year left on his contract.