Despite failing to stop Deportivo La Coruña and Valencia, now that the point gap between Barcelona and La Coruña is just two points, if they can manage to halt Barcelona's momentum, it would likely be very pleasing to Real Madrid. Real Madrid's chances of winning the league this season are nearly impossible, and they certainly don't want to see Barcelona win a third consecutive title. If Mallorca can interfere with Barcelona's bid for the championship, it will naturally endear Mallorca to Real Madrid, and José hopes to one day get some good deals from Real Madrid. Maintaining a good relationship is important.
As for Barcelona, it's far more difficult to get a player from them than from Real Madrid.
In the future, there's a saying in La Liga: "Barcelona's youth training makes Barcelona strong, but Real Madrid's youth training benefits all of La Liga." Almost all the players developed by Barcelona stay with the club, the better the player, the more likely they are to stay. On the other hand, Real Madrid produces many players every year, but only a few stay with them, while most are scattered throughout La Liga.
For the future, José believes that even if it involves some risks, it's worth it.
With this plan in mind, Mallorca dominated the second half of the match against Leeds United.
Mallorca, leading in the score and with better physical condition, didn't launch an overwhelming attack in the second half. Facing Mallorca's packed defense, Leeds felt like a tiger trying to eat a tortoise—it just couldn't get to the point.
Boyer had excellent talent, both in technique and physical attributes, but he was a player who played based on his mood. When in a good mood, he could play like a new Gascoigne; when in a bad mood, he played terribly. Although Boyer wasn't yet the problematic player who would later fight with his teammates on the field, he had already become a spoiled troublemaker, playing with a carefree attitude. Affected by the weather, he became increasingly lackluster in the second half.
This season had been Boyer's best at Leeds, and his performance had been a major factor in their progress. Now that he was slacking off on the pitch, Leeds' attack began to suffer significantly.
Although Smith and Kewell still showed strong professional spirit and kept running hard, the overall lethargy, combined with the lack of a target striker like Viduka, meant that Leeds could only pass around the ball without creating any real shooting opportunities.
Mallorca had no trouble dealing with this attack.
As time ticked by, and with Leeds players becoming more and more fatigued while Mallorca controlled possession, Leeds' attacks became more and more ineffective. Despite the young players from Leeds trying to score in the final moments, their goal seemed increasingly impossible to reach.
When the Leeds players' movements started to slow down, Mallorca launched several threatening counterattacks. In front of the roar of the home crowd, Mallorca had a few good chances, but luck was not on their side, and they narrowly missed.
After Ibagasa's near one-on-one shot went wide, José shook his head in regret. It seemed that a two-goal win would be the most likely outcome for this match. But that was fine. They had prevented Leeds from scoring away goals and had the advantage of two goals, which was already a significant edge.
Sometimes, in knockout matches, there was no need to build a huge advantage in one go; winning by a single goal was enough, and advancing on away goals was also a valid option...
As the final whistle drew closer, José began to feel a bit nervous. Despite keeping his face calm, his heart was racing.
Although Leeds' attack remained somewhat lethargic, the final minutes of a football match often led to unexpected events—like a last-minute goal from the opponent. Winning 2-0 at home was no major difference from winning 2-1 in the league, but in a two-legged knockout tie, that difference could be huge.
Fortunately, that kind of misfortune didn't happen to Mallorca.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the electronic scoreboard read 2-0, with Mallorca winning at home, taking a solid step toward the UEFA Cup final!
"The result today was quite good, very fortunate. Leeds' players were affected by the weather and didn't perform well. I'm happy with the 2-0 score, but that doesn't mean we're definitely going to the final. Two weeks from now, we'll face Leeds away, and they'll have 40,000 fans cheering for them. The situation now is favorable, but two goals won't guarantee our advancement. At Elland Road, we'll face a tough challenge," José said humbly at the post-match press conference, surprising the Spanish journalists who had already figured out what kind of coach this young man was.
O'Leary, on the other hand, looked quite dejected. "Mallorca is a comprehensive and excellent team, but the gap between us shouldn't have been this large. Two stupid mistakes cost us two goals, and now we'll face a lot of pressure going into the second leg. But that's football—we made mistakes, and we were punished. Away goals are crucial, but we couldn't get any."
Looking at the two calm coaches, the journalists were a bit disappointed. The match had been rather lackluster, with Leeds offering little resistance. Mallorca, while not pressing as hard as usual after gaining the advantage, didn't chase the game relentlessly. It wasn't the most exciting semifinal, after all...
Seeing the reporters' disappointed expressions, José smiled slightly. He was quite satisfied with the result. His team had won, conserved their energy, and laid a solid foundation for their upcoming league match against Barcelona, as well as for the second leg of the European tie.
There was another reason for his happiness—something nobody else knew. After José's Mallorca defeated Galatasaray, history had been changed. The two fans who had been involved in the Istanbul street incident had not been harmed. They were probably upset about their team's loss, but they had plenty of time ahead to experience the joys and sorrows of football, cheering and crying for their beloved teams...
Living was more important than anything.
No one would ever know about José's role in saving those two lives, but José was content, knowing that even though his actions had been unintentional, he had saved two lives, and that thought made him happy.
With a happy heart, José turned his attention to preparing for the next league match.
Recently, Barcelona had been struggling, and so was Louis van Gaal.
In the previous two seasons, Van Gaal led Barcelona to two consecutive La Liga titles, but their performance in the Champions League had been mediocre. This season was supposed to be one where Barcelona could make breakthroughs in Europe, but despite focusing more on the Champions League and letting their league form slide, Barcelona had managed to push through two group stages and make it to the quarterfinals. Given this achievement, the Barcelona fans, who had been dissatisfied with the "Dutch mafia" and the drop in league form, were now somewhat appeased. However, at this time...
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea played a fantastic game. Zola's superb free-kick and Norwegian striker Flo's brace left Barcelona trailing 3-0 at halftime. Barcelona only kept their hopes alive through a second-half goal by Figo. Now the situation was very tough for Barcelona. They were two points behind in the league and couldn't afford to drop points easily, but their upcoming Champions League second-leg match made it even more crucial.
"Next up, this match is going to be tough," Van Gaal sighed, then asked the man beside him, "José, what do you think?"
The man sitting next to him, looking unkempt with a scruffy beard, thought for a moment and shook his head. "I don't know... the new coach at Mallorca, to be honest, is very impressive. In such a short time, he has managed to turn Mallorca around from being at the bottom and demoralized to a cohesive, organized team. That's not something just anyone can do."
"He's also called José, and you're also called José... But don't be discouraged, José. If it weren't for his good father, he wouldn't have been able to coach a team at such a young age. In this profession, experience is more reliable than impulsiveness."
José Mourinho nodded slightly, agreeing with the sentiment. After all, he also had a good father—Phoenix Mourinho, former Portuguese national goalkeeper. Without him, Mourinho, who lacked natural talent for playing football, might never have entered the coaching world. But he had started out as a translator, learning from Robson and now Van Gaal, quietly accumulating his experience...
"Putting the UEFA Cup aside, since José Alemany took over, Mallorca has played 11 La Liga matches, with 9 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses. That's an impressive record for a newcomer," Van Gaal said thoughtfully as he picked up a document.
Mourinho's eyes sharpened, clearly understanding the unspoken message in Van Gaal's words.
"They lost those two matches—one away to La Coruña and one away to Valencia. Both were after mid-week UEFA Cup matches, and they fielded a reserve defense to conserve energy, opting for a more attacking approach, resulting in unfortunate losses. In these two games, the common feature was that they rested their veteran defenders and went with attack instead," Mourinho said after thinking for a moment.
"Exactly. When your squad can't support a two-front campaign, it's wise to sacrifice some difficult points in the league and put full effort into the matches with a higher chance of success. Most coaches wouldn't dare make such a decision, but this young man is impressive," Van Gaal smiled as he spoke.
"So, we don't need to worry too much about the upcoming league match," Mourinho nodded, agreeing with Van Gaal's assessment.
"Mallorca's survival situation is quite optimistic, so they probably won't fight too hard in this match. The rotation of players in this match makes sense. We need to focus on their next tough league match against Oviedo and the upcoming Champions League second leg," Van Gaal said, thinking for a moment. "Let's give Luis a rest and try Dani on the right wing, as a trial."