Chapter 136: The Compensation We Deserve
After defeating Barcelona over two legs, Mallorca had just one final match remaining this season—the Copa del Rey final. Their opponent was Zaragoza, who had edged past Atlético Madrid 2-1 over two legs. The final would take place at the Olympic Stadium in Seville.
For Zaragoza, who had barely managed to avoid relegation, this season was nothing short of a disaster. Last season, they finished fourth in La Liga, but this time they plummeted to 17th place—the biggest decline of any team in the league. Winning the Copa del Rey was their only remaining hope.
This desperation was evident in Zaragoza's attitude.
Upon arriving in Seville, Zaragoza's head coach, Costa, stated in an interview:"We are grateful to Mallorca for defeating Oviedo... but that doesn't mean we will hand them the Copa del Rey. Our performance this season has been terrible, and we owe our fans an explanation. We must win this trophy!"
Costa's words had a clear background—before the final round of the league, Zaragoza had the same number of points as Oviedo. However, they had the worst head-to-head record among the three teams in danger—Oviedo, Osasuna, and themselves. If Osasuna won and Oviedo secured a draw, Zaragoza would have been the team relegated.
Luckily for them, Mallorca, despite only needing a draw, still went all out to defeat Oviedo. That victory ensured Zaragoza's survival by a single point. In that sense, Zaragoza truly owed Mallorca a big thank you.
But José wasn't having it.
"We didn't beat Oviedo for Zaragoza's sake," José responded swiftly. "We aim to win every match, regardless of the opponent. And we certainly don't need Zaragoza to gift us the Copa del Rey. If we want it, we'll take it ourselves. We don't need charity from anyone."
Mallorca's fans loved this response—it was full of confidence and defiance.That's right, do we need anyone to hand us anything? No! If we want something, we'll take it ourselves! Don't forget, we're the La Liga runners-up. And you? You barely survived relegation!
However, José was well aware that this match wouldn't be as easy as the league standings suggested. The gap between the two teams wasn't as large as it appeared.
Yes, Zaragoza had been terrible this season, but they were still the team that finished fourth last season. More importantly, they hadn't lost any key players. In fact, their downfall stemmed precisely from keeping the same squad.