"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…
However, José only thought about it for a day before realizing it wasn't a real dilemma.
Staying up in the league was indeed important, but even if they lost to La Coruña, it wouldn't significantly affect their survival chances—simply put, Deportivo were not their direct relegation rivals. Furthermore, there were still thirteen matches left in the league, so losing one match wasn't a big deal. José wasn't arrogant enough to think that Mallorca could win the remaining 18 games of the season—if they did, that would be 54 points, adding to their original 12, which could even qualify for European competitions, maybe even a shot at the Champions League.
In reality, José thought that winning around ten matches would get them to 42 points, which would be more than enough for survival. For most leagues, 40 points is typically the safety mark—though there were exceptions, and some teams with more than 40 points still got relegated.
So, even if they sacrificed this La Liga match, it wouldn't hurt Mallorca much. The players would understand that skipping this match wasn't about lack of fight, but about a larger goal.
Playing in European competitions also excited the Mallorca players, as the team was a typical underdog. Apart from Nadal, who won almost everything at Barcelona, the rest of the players were commoners, underdogs among underdogs.
"For the La Coruña match, I'm going to let most of you rest... The reason is simple, we have the UEFA Cup match in ten days. Everyone's been saying that my first priority after taking over was survival, but I've never said what my goal is… Well, now I'm going to tell you. In my eyes, staying in La Liga is the easiest task! Five wins have proven my judgment is correct, because we have at least mid-table La Liga quality. It's just that for various reasons, we hadn't shown it before… Now that I'm here, Mallorca is back on the path of victory! Do you believe that?" José said, standing in front of the players on the sunny training field. His calm tone still conveyed immense confidence, even a hint of arrogance.
The players had no negative feelings toward him. Even though most of them were veterans, they still had ambition. After all, old horses still long to run, and even late in their careers, their hearts burned with the desire for success.
A confident head coach was far better than one who began every match with a worried "Guys, our goal is to get one point today..." José had already proven his ability with the previous five wins.
The players eagerly awaited what José would say next.
"I have two goals for this season," José said, holding up his right hand with two fingers—middle and index. Then he lowered his middle finger, leaving only the index finger up. "First, survival. Let's try to push for a spot in next season's European competitions."
This immediately energized the players.
To lead a bottom-of-the-table team to a European competition spot in half a season—it wasn't impossible, as in some leagues, the difference between the bottom and the top ten wasn't that big. The more competitive leagues with a few strong teams had this feature. But Mallorca's situation was different. Even after five straight wins, they were still four points off safety, which showed how much ground they had lost earlier.
Leading a team like that, José's goal wasn't just survival but trying to reach European competitions… This ambitious goal stirred the hearts of even the veteran players like Nadal and N'Gonga.
"Second!" Before they could process his words, José immediately raised his middle finger, forming a "V." "I hope we can complete last season's dream and win the European competition… That would be the UEFA Cup! Last season, we lost the Cup Winners' Cup, but now the Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup have merged. If we win the UEFA Cup, don't you think that will make up for last season's regret?"
"Yes!" Players like Nino, N'Gonga, Soler, Stankovic, and Ibagasa, who had been with the team last season, shouted. Even the newcomers like Nadal, Eto'o, and Tristan nodded eagerly.
Nadal had won nearly everything at Barcelona but had never captured the UEFA Cup. He was determined to make up for that missing piece before his career ended.
Seeing that the players' emotions were fully stirred, José nodded with satisfaction and said loudly, "So, for the next match against La Coruña, Miguel, Vicente, Francisco, Javier, and Miguel, you don't need to travel. Stay back in Mallorca and rest."
He listed five players, all of whom were veterans over 30—Nadal, N'Gonga, both Solers, and Olérola.
As for the others, José wasn't planning to play Eto'o. Eto'o was Mallorca's biggest secret weapon. At that time, teams still only analyzed recent matches of their opponents. José didn't want Eto'o to reveal his full potential against La Coruña, especially when he was still overshadowed by Tristan, who had scored 11 goals in the league.
José believed that Eto'o would play a crucial role in upcoming matches.
Explaining the lineup was important because José didn't care about external opinions. He needed his players to understand his thought process. If he sent most of the substitutes to face a strong team while already on a five-match winning streak, the players might mistakenly think they could just give up against top teams. José needed to stamp out any such ideas, as his vision was to make Mallorca a team that could rival, or even surpass, the giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona in the future.
Now, the players understood. Giving up one match temporarily was for the sake of achieving greater success later. It was a smart strategy, not cowardice in the face of strong opponents.