Chapter 127: An Important Match
A week later, in the 24th round of the league, José started wondering if he had a knack for jinxing things.
At home, Racing Santander managed to take a big bite out of Mallorca. This was a team that had performed terribly in the first half of the season but was now making a comeback. Before their shocking 4-0 victory over Barcelona, they had lost five consecutive matches. Even in the last round, they only suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Real Madrid. This showed that, under the pressure of relegation, they were starting to fight back.
In this match, they played exceptionally well. Despite an early goal from Motta, Santander managed to turn things around in the second half with goals from Massoni and Colsa, snatching all three points. This loss pushed Mallorca back to fifth place.
With this victory, Santander remained 19th in the league but was now just three points away from climbing out of the relegation zone. The relegation battle this season closely resembled last year's—two-thirds of the league had been played, and the point gap between the bottom-ranked team and the 11th place was just ten points. Once again, it seemed like the fight for survival would last until the very end. Any team that fell behind at this stage risked falling into an abyss.
The only comforting thought for Mallorca fans was that their team wasn't battling relegation.
José was frustrated after this defeat. They were now three points behind Barcelona and four points behind Valencia. The progress they had worked so hard for vanished in an instant. Anyone would find that hard to accept.
But there was a silver lining—every time Mallorca suffered a loss, an exciting challenge seemed to be waiting just around the corner.
Round 25: A Home Match Against Deportivo La Coruña!
The next few rounds would be the most crucial period of the season for Mallorca.