~.-~          After the players returned from the national team, Jose breathed a sigh of relief. This was the last national team game before the winter break. Next, he could focus all his attention on the league. The four-point gap is not too much, and he was only two points away from Barcelona. If he played better, then Mallorca might be able to achieve a pretty good ranking before the winter break, or even return to the top of the standings...

Before the winter break, Mallorca still has six league games to play, with opponents being Espanyol, Bilbao, Alaves, Osasuna, Atletico Madrid and Valencia. These teams are not bad at all. However, Mallorca is very sure to defeat them. What they have to do is to perform at a very high level in every game. Whether this can be done depends on how Jose coaches the team.

The temptation of being qualified for the World Cup was suppressed by the fact that the players of Mallorca did not slacken in the next time, and Jose also adjusted the players' condition in the next few days. However, except for the few players from Spain, the other players were fine. After all, the Brazilian and German national teams have already qualified in advance. This time they participated in a friendly match, and they did not waste much physical fitness.

Soon, Mallorca ushered in the twelfth round of the league, challenging Espanyol away.

In this game, Jose rotated some players, and none of the four main players of the Spanish national team played, only Mendeta appeared, with Senna, Farinos and Kaka on the front line, Vidic and Campo on the center back, while Klose and Van Persie on the front line were partners.

This lineup still performed well. Espanyol was in poor form this season. They entered the European arena last season, but after the start of this season, their performance was quite poor. So far, they only won two games in the eleven league rounds, and lost six games. In addition to winning consecutively in the second and third rounds, there was another game in these two rounds that defeated Real Madrid. So far, they have been unable to win in eight rounds. What’s more serious is that they only scored four goals in these eight rounds of leagues, scoring half a goal per game on average. How bad this offensive ability is, it can be seen.

However, their defense is still good. Although they have conceded goals in each game in the last eight rounds, they have only conceded one or two in each game, and have not conceded more than two goals. This is one of the reasons why they have won three draws...

It is naturally not too difficult to deal with such a team. Although four Spanish internationals failed, Mallorca's offensive and defensive abilities will not be much worse. Farinos can replace some Alonso's functions. Mendeta's breakthrough and pass are not as accurate as Iniesta, but the accuracy of long passes is worse than Iniesta. Van Persie is a second striker who has an excellent crossover and is more capable of playing.

The tactics set by Jose in this game are also very in line with Van Persie's appetite. In addition to Medetta, the two full-backs also frequently intervene assists and pass directly into the penalty area to create opportunities for two forwards who grab the point. Compared with Van Persie, Klose is better at making goals for his teammates. In addition to shooting, his assist ability has always been very excellent. Basically, every two goals he scores, he can complete an assist. For a center, this is already a rare quality.

Mallorca's forward combination in this game is also a relatively alternative front combination, a center who can assist, and a second forward who doesn't pass the ball and only grabs points. The position and role are completely reversed...

However, this combination has a very good performance, at least it makes the Espanyol's defense very troublesome. Mallorca's wings constantly test the Espanyol's defense with crosses. Whether it is a high-altitude cross or a low-level cross, it can make the Espanyol's defense busy for a while. Although the Espanyol's defense is quite good, it will always seem to be busy under such dense offensive strength, and they cannot not reveal flaws. As long as a flaw is revealed, Klose and Van Persie may catch it...

Klose himself is a player with excellent points-grabbing ability. His sense of smell in front of the goal is also a talent, otherwise he would not have become a forward known for heading at a height of 1.82 meters - not only because of his excellent bounce ability, but his strong ability to grab the first place, and he can always grab the first place. This is a talent that others can't learn even if they want to. Van Persie does not have such talent, but he can complete the first volleyball shot at any angle and under any circumstances. This is also a talent. With these two people on the court, you can really grasp it as long as you have the chance and create a threat...

Of course, these two people also have their own shortcomings, that is, they can seize opportunities but cannot create opportunities. Although Klose's skills are not bad now, he cannot drive the ball to complete the attack by himself, and he still has to rely on the support of the midfield. Although Van Persie is also a technical player, his organizational ability is also average. If Mallorca did not have a strong midfield advantage, one of such a forwards would be enough. Sending two people to the court would easily reduce the ability to create opportunities in the midfield.

But even so, it would be enough to deal with a team like Espanyol.

After continuous attacks, in the 23rd minute, Farinos passed the ball in the middle. After receiving the ball, Mendeta suddenly passed it on the left. Ram, who was inserted on the left, received Mendeta's transfer ball, and then began to quickly go down the bottom. After a few steps down the bottom, he quickly dunked the ball back, and then passed it with his right foot to the penalty area!

Klose quickly stepped forward and jumped up before the opponent's defender. Seeing that the opponent's defender and goalkeeper were all on him, he immediately swung the ball and pushed the ball directly towards the middle of the penalty area!

Van Persie, who was inserted from there, faced the falling ball, twisted her body and shot in the air at the first time!

The ball hit the bottom edge of the crossbar and quickly changed direction and flew into the goal. Mallorca scored the first record!

After losing a goal, Espanyol was not discouraged. They began to counterattack, trying to equalize the score. Mathias was not on the court, and Mallorca's defense strength also decreased a lot. After all, Campo is not young and does not play much in the game, so his natural state will decline a lot.

In the 32nd minute, De La Pena made a beautiful pass in the midfield. Forward Garcia caught the ball and broke into the penalty area. Campo, who was filling up, hurriedly tripped Garcia. The referee immediately awarded a penalty - which made Espanyol fans start to cheer. Even a draw plays a very important role in Espanyol's current!

Unfortunately, Mallorca is unwilling to accept a draw now!

Raul Tamudo came to take the penalty kick. The quality of the penalty kick shot by the shooter was not bad, but Van der Sar judged the route of his shooting, then made a beautiful side swing, stretched his arms and blocked the ball, then quickly got up from the lawn, and pressed the still-rolling ball under him!

"Oh! Van der Sar saved Tamudo's penalty! Mallorca's former main goalkeeper Cameni is good at saving penalty, and Van der Sar seems to have such talents... But with his height, as long as the opponent's shooting route is judged, saving the penalty will have a greater advantage..."

Van der Sar got up from the ground, clamped the ball under his armpit with one hand, and waved the other violently - he used his actions to tell everyone that now, you can forget the goalkeeper of the past, and I, Edwin Van der Sar, is Mallorca's current main goalkeeper!

At a disadvantage, Espanyol finally had such a good chance to score, but was blocked by Van der Sar, which made their morale drop very strongly. Mallorca took advantage of the situation and launched another attack. Before the end of the first half, Klose's front-end tackle helped Mallorca expand the score, which made Espanyol's victory unstoppable. Silva, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored another goal. Mallorca defeated Espanyol 3-0 away, pushing the opponent into the relegation zone again!

Four consecutive victories!

~.-~


Chapter completed!