Chapter 25: Reserving Strength
"3-1 away victory against Bilbao! Mallorca clinches their fourth consecutive win! After securing their fourth straight win, Mallorca's points have now matched what they earned in the entire first half of the season... With Sevilla drawing 2-2 away against Espanyol, Mallorca has finally escaped the embarrassing last-place position. They now have 24 points, one ahead of Sevilla, sitting in 19th place in La Liga. Ahead of them are Numancia with 29 points, Atletico Madrid with 30, Real Betis with 31, Santander with 33, and Real Oviedo with 36... Though there's still a gap between them and the relegation zone, Mallorca's recent momentum makes staying up seem far from a dream..."
"The final whistle blows! The crowd erupts at the St. Moïse Stadium! Mallorca's fans are celebrating their fifth consecutive league win, thanks to a golden header from Tristan in the 69th minute, giving Mallorca a 1-0 home win over 8th-placed Celta. Their winning streak extends to nine... Mallorca's form has been excellent lately. For a new head coach, winning one or two matches isn't much, but to secure five wins in a row clearly demonstrates one thing—this coach has outstanding tactical skills, especially considering he's only 25! It's a miracle! If given more time, maybe this young coach can lead this island team to even greater feats..."
On February 20th, Mallorca beat Celta 1-0 at home. This was the first time José started Eto'o and Tristan as a forward duo in a match, and the result was quite promising. Eto'o constantly troubled Celta's defense, and Tristan scored the decisive goal. Five straight wins—such a streak was rare in Mallorca's top-flight history.
"Hmm, managing a team with no great historical achievements is actually not a bad choice. At least the fans won't demand too much," José mused as he stroked his chin.
After a moment of satisfaction, José began to prepare for the upcoming matches. On February 27th, Mallorca would face league leaders Deportivo La Coruña away. Normally, this wouldn't be a big problem, as the five consecutive wins were impressive enough. José thought they could just play hard and, even if they lost, it wouldn't be a disaster—Deportivo were top of the table after all.
But José was troubled because, just four days after facing La Coruña, Mallorca would host Monaco in the first leg of the UEFA Cup fourth round!
If they wanted to achieve a respectable result at Riazor (La Coruña's home stadium), Mallorca would have to give everything. After all, Deportivo were terrifying this season. With players like attacking midfielder Dejan Mihajlovic, defensive midfielder Mauro Silva, forward Maké, and the wingers Fran and Víctor... the backbone of the "Super Deportivo" era, all of them were in their prime.
Mallorca had a chance against this elite team, but the consequence would be that the veterans, whose fitness could only support a match every week, would be drained and struggle to perform well against Monaco.
La Liga or the UEFA Cup? That was the question...