Chapter 280 Battle of Rebirth from Ashes
"Mallorca, who challenged Juventus away, stopped the decline. They won a one-to-one draw with a goal first. Although the record of thirteen consecutive wins in the Champions League was terminated, it is not too bad for Mallorca... Two weeks later, the second leg will be held, and that game will determine which team will enter the semi-finals... In the other three games, Real Madrid, who was at home, defeated Manchester United three-to-one, and one foot had already entered the semi-finals, while Inter Milan defeated Valencia 1-0 at home, and AC Milan tied Ajax 0-0 away. Except for Real Madrid's obvious advantages, what is the final result of the other three games is completely unpredictable."
The quarter-finals were very intense. For this level of game, it was quite normal to go very fiercely. However, Real Madrid was able to beat Manchester United 3-1 at home cleanly and neatly. In this game, Real Madrid continued its previous outstanding state and almost completely suppressed Manchester United. In addition, the score difference between Mallorca's 12 points in one breath a few months made Real Madrid extremely arrogant and arrogant!
"You guys rush forward first, at least we are not the target of public criticism now." Jose thought to himself.
After returning to Mallorca, Jose and his disciples immediately ushered in the 29th round of the league, playing against Barcelona away.
In the last game, Mallorca's condition has gradually begun to recover. Jose will take the Barcelona flag in this game, proving that the invincible Mallorca of the first half of the season is back!
In this case, Barcelona, which is in poor condition but also has a wealthy reputation, is undoubtedly the best opponent.
Jose knew that Barcelona was the weakest time this season. When he wanted to boost morale, he happened to meet Barcelona. Jose felt that he was lucky.
However, Barcelona's Camp Nou still proves their heritage and pride.
Xavi, Puyol and Enrique were absent, and Antich was forced to use Riquelme. The player showed his best half game in the first half, passing, controlling the ball, and breaking through almost everything. It was his two assists in the first half, helping Saviola and Cruivit scored one goal respectively!
During the halftime break, Jose urgently adjusted his tactics. Pablo Garcia replaced Kaka with a slightly injured injury on the court, and Mallorca became a three-middle midfielder. This seemingly conservative tactic reversed the entire battle situation in one fell swoop!
Under the joint blockade of Garcia and Dacott, Riquelme suddenly became silent in the second half, and at the same time, Mallorca's attack began to erupt like a volcano!
Just five minutes into the second half, Ronaldo broke through the attacks between Mota and Xavi in the middle, and then cleverly picked the ball into the penalty area. Torres's ball came to the ground and shot back a point!
This goal boosted Mallorca's morale, but Barcelona began to become panic...
The assists of the two full-backs Beletti and Capdvilla became more and more crazy. The arrangement of the three-middle midfielder allows the two wings to insert assists with confidence and boldness, and this type of assist in the upper back can better play the characteristics of both of them.
Albertini was able to organize better under the protection of two full-time defensive midfielders. In the first half, because of Riquelme's activeness, Albertini had to help Dakot defend more, and now, he can also participate in the organization's offense with all his heart.
Although Kaka's surprise attack was missing, Albertini and Ronaldo, who were completely liberated, still helped Mallorca take the initiative in the midfield!
Seeing that Mallorca's offense became more and more fierce, Antić could no longer sit still. Barcelona's average performance this season also made him more courageous to put out the fire in the middle. After hesitating for a while, he replaced Ovemas with Roshenbak to strengthen his defense. However, this substitution made Mallorca's threat of defense from the side no longer exist, and the assists on both wings began to become more and more fierce!
In the 71st minute, Barcelona's defense finally began to collapse under Mallorca's frequent attacks!
Their defense has never been good at all. Their best defender this season is Puyol. Unfortunately, Puyol is not on the court now. The two central defenders are Frank Debor and Swedish veteran Anderson...
This older central defender partner obviously cannot compare with young people in terms of energy, especially in such a tense game, they consume much more physical energy than usual, and of course they are prone to making mistakes when their physical fitness is declining.
Beletti inserted from the right at high speed, and his running attracted part of the attention of Barcelona's defense line. However, Ronaldo, who took the ball, directly handed the ball to Drogba at the front of the penalty area!
After Drogba received the ball, he forced himself to turn around. The Barcelona defenders, who had been tortured by his strength, began to get nervous. Anderson touched it, and De Boer's attention began to be on Drogba. Of course, he focused more on Torres. This young player and the last Champions League had already scored two consecutive games, and his condition was at an excellent time.
However, Drogba did not hand the ball to Torres, nor did he pass it back to Ronaldo, who was under tight defense. Instead, he forced his foot to stuff the ball into the penalty area when he forced his way around halfway!
As soon as Torres made a move, Beletti, who had not stopped running after inserting the assist, rushed into the penalty area and then stopped Drogba's pass!
Frank Debor turned around and planned to block it as soon as possible, but as he turned around, his feet suddenly became soft and he slipped to the ground...
However, no one noticed him at this time. Everyone's eyes fell on Beletti. After removing the ball, he swung his right foot. Barcelona goalkeeper Bonano rushed out, intending to use his body to block Beletti's shot!
Beletti's sport was thunderous, but when he finally finished the shot, he gently picked the ball - showing the delicate footwork of a Brazilian player to the fullest!
The ball drew a wonderful arc in the air, flew over Bonano's body, and then landed directly into the goal in a parabolic manner...
Two to two! Twenty-five minutes after the second half, Mallorca finally tied the score!
"Continue to attack, what I want is to win!"
When the audience burst into loud cheers and Mallorca fans vented their long-suppressed emotions, Jose's face was silent, but he just stood up and raised three fingers to the field!
His move only means one thing, that is, attack with all my strength, all I want is three points!
Antich had a bitter face and changed another person - Hrad replaced Koku with his physical strength and continued to strengthen his defense...
Mallorca fans in the stands booed a huge boo at Barcelona's coaching seat, believing that the other party was a coward.
Even most Barcelona fans can't stand it anymore. Being equalized with two goals is already annoying. Now they don't want to strengthen their offense but think about defense. How can they not make Barcelona fans crazy? What's more, Barcelona has played miserably in recent seasons, and Barcelona fans' endurance has long fallen to the bottom.
Under such circumstances, Mallorca naturally launched a fierce attack with greater momentum!
Do you want to defend? Then we will use offense to let you know that conservative face Mallorca can only be a dead end!
Drogba's running in the frontcourt began to become more active. In this game, he suffered a lot on Barcelona's defense line. He also hoped to score a goal to get a perfect end. For him, who had been unknown last season, his performance at the beginning of the season was top-notch, but his condition began to decline after the winter break, which is one of the reasons why Mallorca's performance began to become unstable.
Drogba was trying hard to find a goal, but this game was destined to return empty-handed. In the 88th minute, Drogba, who was struggling to run, finally found an opportunity in the penalty area. Capdvilla's beautiful cross was sent to his head. Drogba rushed to the top of the ball. Seeing that the ball was about to enter, he was rescued from the goal line by Bonano...
Just as Drogba was about to sigh with his head, Ronaldo appeared near the landing point of the ball, and raised his foot to lift the ball upwards with an irregular movement...
Three to two! Big reversal! A decisive kill!
All the extremely exciting elements appeared in this game, without missing a single one!
Ronaldo's laughing face, Drogba's dancing fist, Torres' jumping figure... and Jose with his hands raised high on the sidelines, at this moment, Mallorca, who swept everything in the first half of the season, truly returned!
No one knows that this game is the beginning of Mallorca's next series of legends.
Before this game, Mallorca had been in normal form for a long time. They won many key games, but their condition was very ups and downs. Before this game, they had not won several games. In the last game, they played well, but the final result was only a draw. Although this victory had a very bad performance before, when the game ended, Mallorca's players truly returned to the invincible state of the first half of the season!
Although their physical fitness reserves are definitely not comparable to those of the first half of the season, in terms of mentality, they have regained the feeling of the first half of the season.
When Jose was asked which game was the most important game in Mallorca this season, Jose did not mention other more critical games, but instead said the game without hesitation.
"This victory is a milestone in the history of Mallorca Club. This victory played an important role in the process of winning the first heavyweight champion in the history of the club. Before the victory of this game, we faced the most difficult situation, but we survived and won this key game, which led to a series of performances later... Even in the entire history of Mallorca, this game occupied the most important link, a benchmark victory."
None of the Mallorca fans have any opinions about Jose's comment. Anyone who has experienced this season has a clear understanding of the importance of this game. Even the game that won the Triple Crown season when Mallorca finally won the Champions League final was not as important as this game.
Rebirth from the Ashes - Mallorca after this game undoubtedly deserves this word.
Chapter completed!