Chapter 115: We Can Do It!
Bosque was busy envisioning his plan to shatter a record at Real Madrid—a record that no one had ever come close to before—and José was equally eager.
But what José was truly anticipating wasn't the breaking of club records—he wasn't yet that lofty-minded. In fact, Mallorca's own history held hardly any records worth shattering; the club's most glorious achievement to date was last season's UEFA Cup win, which ended an embarrassing spell of having no European honors—a triumph José himself had orchestrated. What José was really waiting for was simply an opportunity to launch a brilliant counterattack.
Even though he could see that Real Madrid had never stopped pressing Mota, marking Ronaldinho, and tracking Eto'o, José's plan wasn't to rely solely on those three. Luke, for instance, might frequently track back on defence, but that doesn't mean he won't play a crucial role in attack—if Real Madrid sometimes overlooked him, he could become a game-changing secret weapon. And then there was Ngonga—often involved more in defence—who had long been the undisputed midfield general of Mallorca; after a period of relative silence and with Mota's meteoric rise, many seemed to have forgotten Ngonga's importance.
At halftime, José had reminded his players: if Mota were to be pressed too hard, Ngonga would step up as the secondary playmaker. And if Ronaldinho and Eto'o were marked excessively, the responsibility for counterattacks would fall on Luke.
"One determined heart, two backup plans. Never put all your eggs in one basket. When one door closes, another will open."
José silently repeated these truths to himself. Though he knew that reality often diverged from theory, in that moment he could only rely on such mantras to steady his nerves. After all, sometimes a coach can only steer the game as close as possible in the direction he desires; the finer details must ultimately be executed by the players. No matter how brilliant a coach may be, he can't win with a substandard team—and even the best coach is powerless when his players refuse to give their all.
Still, José was convinced that he had a tremendous chance—as long as the opportunity presented itself, as long as they seized it...
Thirteen minutes into the second half, that long-awaited chance finally arrived.
After absorbing nearly ten minutes of relentless pressure and attacks from Real Madrid, Mallorca began a determined counter. Though they could no longer dominate Madrid as they had in the first half, they managed to push their defensive line forward by several tens of meters, freeing their penalty area from the suffocating pressure.