Chapter 42 The Survival of Small Teams

Chapter 42 The Survival of Small Teams

Galatasaray almost came to Mallorca with a tragic mood.

When Mallorca was originally drawn in the lottery, Galatasaray thought it was a relatively easy opponent to deal with. However, they were defeated by the opponent with three goals at home, but Galatasaray had already been cornered!

However, in this knockout match, even if there is a glimmer of hope, no one will give up. What's more, Galatasaray has played quite well in the domestic league this season. The cup has reached the final, so there is no need to think about it for the time being. The league is also far ahead, beating Fenerbahce and Besiktas. An old opponent is ranked first, they can put all their energy in the UEFA Cup!

Since Trim took office in Galatasaray four years ago, this team immediately won the league championship after two years. In the first three seasons, it firmly held the league championship in its hands and won the The three consecutive championships in the league have achieved the honor of three consecutive championships that only Trabzonspor, Besiktas and Galatasaray have created before. This season is even more promising to win the unprecedented four in the Turkish league Consecutive championships, in this case, just dominating the country cannot satisfy Galatasaray fans. Only by obtaining corresponding honors in the European arena can Galatasaray be satisfied. The hearts of Ray fans have grown more and more inflated!

So before this game, the Galatasaray players set foot on the land of Mallorca with the mood of breaking the boat!

However, in this place, the right time, place and people have completely come to Mallorca's side.

Although Mallorca did not use any off-court tactics against Galatasaray, neither did anyone party all night near their hotel, nor did they cause any trouble in their adaptation training on the pitch, but in Madrid On the island of Roca, in the San Moise Stadium, they will bear the roar and pressure of more than 20,000 Mallorca fans!

The one thousand most loyal fans of Mallorca who came back from Turkey told all the Mallorcans about the difficulties they suffered in Turkey, the abuse and oppression of the other side...all the Mallorcans felt the same way.

So at the St. Moise Stadium on March 23, the collective roar of more than 20,000 Mallorca fans made the entire stadium tremble, and made the Spanish fans think that those guys were nothing. The gutsy Galatasaray fans were taken aback!

However, astonished as it was, Galatasaray, already holding the mentality of breaking the boat, showed an astonishing level in Mallorca's home court, which was evenly matched with Mallorca!

For this game, Jose did not take it lightly, and all the main players came on the field. However, Galatasaray, who still launched a crazy attack from the beginning, scored the first goal. Haji grabbed the ball in front of Ngonga, and then the ball did not land. He directly sent a penetrating through ball, Arif turned offside and successfully kicked the ball, Franco tried his best to block the ball, and Hakan Suker fell to the ground before Nadal and Nino. Kick the ball into the empty goal!

However, Ngonga did not let Haji focus on the front. When Ngonga was still playing for Valencia, he had competed with Haji who was playing for Barcelona several times, but at that time Ngonga was still a pure player. It's just a defensive player. In this game, he showed his excellent passing ability!

Also with a very penetrating through ball, Ngonga created a one-handed opportunity for Eto'o who quickly advanced. The Cameroonian did not let go of the captain's beautiful assist. After receiving the ball, he pushed into the far corner , before the end of the first half, Mallorca equalized the score!

After the start of the second half, Jose began to direct the team to retreat. After the back and forth in the first half, Galatasaray's spirit has been reduced a lot. Facing the reclaimed Mallorca, their momentum has begun to decline .

It was another beautiful counterattack. After Eto'o and Tristan played two-for-one cooperation in a row, they tore apart Galatasaray's defense line. After getting another one-handed chance, Eto'o did not seek merit, but the ball It was handed over to Tristan who ran up desperately, Tristan fell to the ground and shot, the ball flew into the empty goal, and Mallorca overtook the opponent 2-1!

This score was also the final score of the game. Amidst the wild cheers of the Mallorca fans, Mallorca defeated Galatasaray with a score of 5-1 in two rounds and advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup!

"I have to say that we made too many mistakes in the first round."

Despite the loss, "Tyrant" showed his graceful side. After the game, he took the initiative to come over and extended his hand to Jose.

Jose took Trim's hand and smiled: "There is also a bit of luck... But I am grateful that we did not have additional disturbances when we were in Istanbul."

"I don't want to see that kind of situation. After all, the rise of Turkish football depends on strength, not on some off-court means. It's just that our fans sometimes seem too impulsive." Trim admitted frankly This further deepened Jose's affection for him.

However, from a historical point of view, Trim is really not the head coach who wants fans and players to treat the game with an extreme attitude. It can be seen that what happened to Beckham has never happened again-and under his command, the Turkish national team has reached another peak. The semi-finals of the European Championship in 2008 is the best reward for his work.

"I hope that if I beat him, it won't affect his future work..." Looking at Trim's back, Jose thought to himself.

After the end of this season in history, Trim successively coached Fiorentina and AC Milan in Serie A, largely because of his achievements in leading Galatasaray to the UEFA Cup this season. Now Galatasaray Ray's UEFA Cup is over, can Trim still get a chance in Serie A?

Although Trim's performance in Serie A is generally even a failure, in this era, foreign coaches who can get coaching opportunities in Serie A are considered top coaches recognized by the world. Ability not recognized by too many people...

But after just thinking about it, Jose stopped thinking about it. This season, he still has 12 games to play...

After defeating Galatasaray, Mallorca's opponents in the UEFA Cup semi-finals also surfaced. Although they lost 1-2 to Slavia Prague in the away game, the young guards from the Premier League are still in the game. They eliminated their opponents with a total score of 4 to 2 in two rounds and entered the semi-finals. They will be Mallorca's next opponent in the UEFA Cup.

In the other half of the area, Arsenal won a big away game. Parlor's hat-trick and Henry's icing on the cake made Arsenal beat Werder Bremen 4-2 on the road with a total score of 6-2. Lens He continued his title of "La Liga killer". Although Israeli striker Revivo's direct free kick helped Celta lead away from home in the 57th minute, Lens completed self-salvation on the verge of extinction. Defender Ismail's penalty kick and forward Numa's two goals within ten minutes reversed Celta. In the end, Lens, who beat Celta 2-1 at home, became the last of the semi-finals!

"The next step is to deal with Leeds United." Jose thought in his heart.

The two games of the UEFA Cup semi-finals will be played from April 7th to April 21st, that is to say, in the next month, Mallorca will face a double match in only two weeks , This is a respite for Mallorca. Before two consecutive weeks of double matches, and every game is very important, so Jose did not use rotation, but let the main players play consecutively. Although the morale and fighting spirit of the players are very high now, the defensive line that has begun to look old has been unable to support its physical fitness and state. According to the report of the team doctors, the physical condition of the defenders is not very good now In addition to the youngest and strongest Nino, whether it is Soler, Nadal and Olesola in the defense, or Ngonga in the midfield and another Soler, their physical condition is very important. It has reached the brink of danger.

However, in the next league game, the opponent is not weak, and it can even be said to be very strong-Valencia, which has entered the semi-finals of the Champions League this season and has a chance to hit the top four in the league.

Mallorca's former coach Cooper led Valencia.

In all fairness, Jose really wanted to compete with Cooper to prove that he is the most suitable head coach for Mallorca - but now is not the time, more than half of Mallorca's main lineup is trained by Cooper In addition, the entire defense line was built by Cooper except for Nadal. Except for the Cameroonian Lauren who moved to Arsenal, Jose moved Soler's position back to make up for the gap at right back. In addition to the introduction of veteran Nadal through free transfer, the entire defensive system is not much different from when Cooper was there. The midfielders Ngonga, Stankovic and Ibagaza were also established by Cooper. If you use this tactic to fight against Cooper, if you lose, people will think you are inferior to Cooper. If you win, some people will say that Jose uses the property left by Cooper to win. Jose does not want to play here. Fight against Cooper in this environment.

The reality also made Jose feel a bit of a headache. Although Valencia is also fighting on two fronts, their background is much deeper than Mallorca's. In addition to the main lineup, their substitute lineup is also quite strong. With the players in Jose's hands, it is not easy to piece together a competitive main lineup. Even if it is a substitute player against a substitute player, Mallorca's disadvantage will only become bigger and bigger.

You must know that even offensive players like Tristan and Stankovic are tired due to continuous battles. In addition to Ibagaza and Eto'o, who has not played much in the first half of the season, the frontcourt is full of energy. , The physical fitness of other players also has problems. Although there will be two consecutive weeks of weekly games, there is no time for the Mallorca players to accumulate physical fitness.

Jose starts to show another side of him - that is cheating...

In the away game against Valencia, Jose directly replaced most of the main players. Even Tristan and Stankovic were replaced after only half of the game. —It doesn't matter if you win, I'm saving my strength for the UEFA Cup and the next league...

For Cooper, he was also full of interest in Jose. However, after getting Mallorca's starting lineup five hours before the game, he was a little dumbfounded, and then Cooper laughed. , and at the same time adjusted the starting lineup that he had not handed in, so that most of the substitutes appeared in the starting lineup-in the end, Valencia defeated Mallorca one-to-zero in a calm game. Cooper didn't say anything when he shook hands with Jose, he just smiled meaningfully at Jose.

Jose also laughed—a small team has its way of survival.