The deaths of two famous Spanish football figures in a row within a few days were also a great shock to the Spanish football world. Hill's funeral received condolence messages from various institutions including the Spanish royal family. Although Asensio's death did not have that much impact, the entire Mallorca team, who was about to set out to participate in the Champions League, came to pay condolences, and there were also dedicated people from the Spanish royal family and La Liga clubs to pay condolences, which can be regarded as the tribute behind him.

Mallorca's application to UEFA has also been answered. UEFA agreed that Mallorca would wear a black veil in the final, but refused the request for a minute of silence before the game - this is normal. There has been no one in the history of the UEFA Champions League final. Generally speaking, domestic leagues will pay silence for some events and the deceased. UEFA has no reason to set such a precedent for Mallorca.

Jose was also mentally prepared for this, and he just wanted to test it out.

After attending the funeral of Asensio, Jose led the team to Germany. The final was held at the Ao Gelsenkirchen at Schalke Stadium. This stadium is the home court of Schalke Zero 4 of the Bundesliga team. Mallorca once left beautiful memories on this stadium. Last season, when they participated in the Champions League for the first time, they defeated Schalke Zero 4 without being favored, qualifying from this group and starting their legendary journey in the Champions League!

This victory in Aoyu Schalke was not Mallorca's first victory in the Champions League, because before this game, they defeated the powerful Arsenal at home. However, after that victory, Mallorca began to completely find confidence in the Champions League!

"I have a deep affection for this stadium... Here we won the first away game of the Champions League. I believe that in the next game, we will also perform very well. We only have one game left this season, and we are bound to win this game."

After getting off the plane, Jose said confidently to the reporters who came to interview.

His style has been changing - he used to be very low-key before the game started, but after winning the Champions League last season, he began to become high-key - although it is inevitable that he will be arrogant if he is proud, but as a young head coach who has won so many honors, is he still frustrated if he is unsatisfied?

"I know Porto is a very good team, and their promotion is not easy to get. Entering the Champions League final is a very difficult thing, but I already have a way to deal with them."

Jose continues his high profile. He is not afraid of having a verbal battle with Mourinho. He knows that Mourinho likes to use pre-game verbal battles to attract attention and reduce the pressure on the players, so he will not let the players take the initiative to participate in verbal battles to distract them. The previous funeral distracted them a lot. After coming to Gelsenkirchen, it is time to calm them down. Mallorca will not underestimate any team.

After expressing his confidence, Jose led the team to the hotel where they stayed. They came to Germany six days in advance to give the players a quiet environment to adapt to the venue. Jose has always spared no effort in this detail.

The European Championship is about to begin soon. The head coach of the national team, Seth, has announced that the members of the Spanish national team. Perhaps because of his gratitude to Jose, the number of Mallorca players has been selected this time. In addition to Alonso, Torres, Iniesta and Matthias, three players who made great contributions to the World Youth Championship have been selected for the national team, increasing the number of Spanish internationals in Mallorca to four. Although the three young players are not considered the absolute main players of Mallorca, their appearances are above double digits this season and their performance is quite outstanding. Although some people criticize them, not many people have any opinions.

It is precisely because of this that Mallorca is more hopeful for the next game. They also want to report to the national team with the halo of the Champions League. Mallorca has many international players this time. In addition to four Spanish internationals, there are also Ram, who was selected for the German national team for the first time, and Mid-down Dakot and defender Mex who have consolidated their national team position. However, Mex will miss the final of the Champions League due to suspension, but Jose still brought him to Germany because at this time, all the Mallorca people are a whole.

Jose also has to spend some time with the 18-person candidates entering the final roster. In addition to the starting lineup, substitutes are also important, because the adjustment of the midfield is also important, especially when facing opponents like Mourinho...

Jose knew that Porto was actually a very strong time now. The team had superstars who were in their year of playing - Deco was such a superstar, but his fame is not particularly great now. With a group of powerful players such as McCarthy del Rey Carvalho Ferreira, and Manicheimer, their ability to get to this point is the result of all players performing well. Unlike Monaco, which focuses on star tactics, they play overall football.

"This guy has always played overall football." Jose thought alone. In fact, Porto's performance this season can show Mourinho's leadership ideas. His team has always played overall. Whether it is Porto, Chelsea or Inter Milan, the team he led often does not have a particularly outstanding player, but there are several players who can stand out at critical moments, such as Deco, Carvalho, Delray and others in Porto, Roben Lampard Drogba in Chelsea, and Milito Meconsneid in Inter Milan... Even after going to Real Madrid, although Ronaldo is the number one star of Real Madrid, the performance of Alonso Benzema Ozil and others is also critical.

In fact, this is also the trend of world football. Jose has always believed that football is progressing slowly. Topics such as discussing "Who is better, Maradona or Ronaldo is better" are Guan Gong and Qin Qiong. Commenting on the pros and cons of the two players, especially the pros and cons of the technical links, can only be compared from the horizontal rather than from the vertical. Even comparing who has more honors from the players, it is necessary to consider the general environment of the football world at that time. If you only count the honors, even the French midfielder Karenbu, who has become a Grand Slam with the French national team and Real Madrid, can be a top superstar. You must know that this guy who looks like a beast but married a beautiful wife is also one of the Grand Slam players, and he can't count the trophies.

Fans who have been watching football for a long time, especially those who have been watching football since the 1980s or 1990s, after seeing the first ten years of the 21st century, they always feel that there are not many stars now, or that they are not worthy of their names. In fact, this is the reason why the overall ability of players is improving. The difference between stars and ordinary professional players is getting smaller and smaller, so they feel that stars are not worthy of their names. At the same time, the intensity of the game is much greater than before. Players are easily injured if they do not pay attention to maintenance.

The decline in status also makes the performance between stars and ordinary professional players closer, so in this case, the team's performance is more about testing the overall strength of the entire club - including the effectiveness of training, how to protect against injuries, whether the intelligence is collected, the inadequate adjustment of the player's status, and how the team's overall performance... It has long passed the time to win by introducing a few superstars, and the role of the coach is infinitely magnified. Clubs that ignore the power of the coach will always taste bad consequences.

So although Jose has bought a lot of future superstars in recent years and has built a very top-notch lineup, if he hadn't been constantly improving the environment of the training ground, increasing the number of coaching staff, strengthening intelligence collection, and strengthening the level of team doctors, he would not have achieved such excellent results.

In this case, Mourinho often insists on the practice of "there is only one voice in the locker room" and "there can only be one superstar in the team, that is me" is actually to determine the idea of ​​overall supremacy and put the overall performance and interests above everything else, so that success can be more easily achieved.

Jose also recognized this point. Although he did not express this theory very directly, he did this - controlling the locker room, not allowing any player to become the only superstar, and emphasizing the offense and defense and teamwork, the effect was quite good. The outstanding achievements in recent years have proved this point. In fact, even sending Ronaldo away has this factor. He doesn't want his team to be in a slump after Ronaldo leaves.

Now, the two teams playing as a whole are in the same match. Although Jose thinks his team has an advantage, in fact, he will not underestimate Porto. Porto's defense is better. Although Ferreira performed averagely after transferring to Chelsea, he is the best right-back of the Champions League this season. He performed better than Mallorca's Beletti and Monaco's Ibara. Carvalho and Joe Costa's central defender combination are quite stable. Compared with Mallorca's central defender combination, perhaps not as strong as Mallorca's central defender combination, but his flexibility and defensive ability are higher. Left-back Valente's assist ability is not as good as Ram, but he is a very stable player.

What Mallorca is worse than the opponent is offense, but the offensive line composed of Deco, McCarthy and Delray is not as famous as Kaka, Etoo and Drogba's forward partner, but it is not much different in strength. At the same time, they also have powerful players like Brazilian young player Albert and Portuguese center Postigga on the bench.

At the same time, Porto also has some advantages in physical fitness. They have a great advantage in the Portuguese League. They have determined the fact that the league won the championship very early. Unlike Mallorca, they won the championship one round ahead of schedule until the last round, and they gave up the Portuguese Cup match, which was entirely for the Champions League. They did not play so hard in the knockout round. For this final, they were able to do their best, while Mallorca lacked Mex, who was suspended.

The competition between two teams between the overall teams depends not only on who is better overall, but also on who can perform better individually, and which coach has more active and decisive on-the-spot command... This game will be a comprehensive competition.

"No matter what, this game is also the last game of the season..." Jose looked at the night view outside the hotel and thought silently in his heart.

It is May 22, and there are still five days left before the start of the Champions League final.
Chapter completed!