Chapter 79

Dina's life remained unchanged; she worked hard when it was time to work and rested well when it was time to rest. Rexino's arrival did not alter Dina's position on the coaching staff; she was still the head physical trainer. At the beginning, Rexino did indeed question her abilities, but he quickly shut his mouth when Dina presented her preseason physical training plan to him. Outside of work, Dina's focus still revolved around Nora.

Little Nora had reached the age to attend kindergarten. Due to her work, Dina hired a nanny specifically to pick up and drop off Nora, and then Dina would take Nora home after work. On rest days, Dina would always take Nora out to play. However, most of the time, little Nora would stay with Dina's parents, the Diaz couple. The little girl also enjoyed visiting the Diaz couple, clearly, the Diaz couple had much more experience in making children happy than Dina.

In fact, Dina was well aware of why her parents would take Nora whenever they had the chance, merely to give her as much private time as possible. What they didn't know was that the main reason Dina adopted Nora was because she liked Nora, but there was also an element of pleasing her parents.

Actually, Dina was not short of suitors. By most people's standards, Dina, though not perfect, was still quite attractive. Dina did not reject her suitors; she basically treated them as she always did, and then she would always find a way to make them lose interest at the right time. To achieve this, Dina had already performed the act of being close friends with her best friend more than once.

Her relationship with Lin Sen was an exception.

The "accident" between the two in the country last time seemed to be a real accident. After that, the two seemed to return to the state where they could joke about anything. However, regarding that agreement, although Lin Sen was not sure if Dina would really switch jobs, Dina was serious about it. However, after Lin Sen confirmed his coaching position at Malaga, Dina's skepticism was also genuine.

However, as Dina witnessed Lin Sen lead Malaga to defeat Atletico Madrid at the Calderon, completing what many saw as revenge, and as Lin Sen used three consecutive wins to establish his position at Malaga, followed by defeating Real Madrid to prove the quality of the dark horse, and now with Malaga extending their winning streak to seven games...

Dina knew that the agreement between her and Lin Sen was probably getting closer to reality.

---

When Romero blew the final whistle, the Pizjuán Stadium, which had been filled with cheers more than boos throughout the season, inevitably saw some applause. Lin Sen stood up calmly, as the boos were not for him but for his opponents.

A home game for Sevilla against Malaga, if it were any other time, would have been just another ordinary league match. However, this match had become the most anticipated of the round, as one team was currently leading the league with seven wins, and the other was third with seven unbeaten matches, five wins, and two draws. So, this was a genuine highlight match.

The game ended in a dull 0-0 draw.

The match could be described as a back-and-forth affair. If one had to say which side had more opportunities, it would be Malaga over Sevilla.

This was also why Sevilla, currently third in the league, still faced boos. Everyone likes to hit the leading bird, especially the one behind it. Sevilla fans were full of hope that their team would use the home advantage to reduce the number of unbeaten teams in La Liga from three to two, but they did not expect the home team to play more conservatively than Malaga.

Jimenéz, who took over from Juande Ramos, who left for Tottenham Hotspur in late October last year, did not have the same calm demeanor as Lin Sen. His face was a bit grim, though this was probably not due to the match but the boos.

This was not the first time Jimenéz had faced such unwarranted boos. In the last match of the previous season, Sevilla won 4-1 against Athletic Bilbao at home, and Jimenéz still faced boos from the fans. Fortunately, Sevilla's president, Del Nido, and sporting director, Monchi, gave him absolute support, allowing him to stay.

Sevilla's performance this season had been excellent, and Jimenéz clearly did not expect that a single draw would make him relive the frustration of last season.

Jimenéz knew where the fans' boos came from, simply because they remembered Malaga's status as a promoted team and chose to forget their current position as league leaders.

So, fans can sometimes be irrational.

Jimenéz felt a bit annoyed, but his smile when Lin Sen came over to shake his hand was genuine.

Due to historical reasons, Malaga has always considered Sevilla a bitter rival, as Sevilla indirectly caused Malaga's relegation in the 1980s. However, Sevilla did not take Malaga seriously, even though Malaga has always been a tough opponent. Interestingly, both Malaga and Sevilla have a common bitter rival, Real Betis.

Sevilla and Betis are bitter rivals because they are in the same city. Malaga's rivalry with Betis is somewhat one-sided, as both teams are in the same region, but Malaga does not consider Sevilla a derby rival. So, when the tiger challenges the lion, the rabbit can only race the turtle.

When Lin Sen learned this history, he could not help but laugh. Football is so interesting; sometimes, unrelated things can be connected, and it leaves you marveling.

Just like Malaga's previous three opponents: Valladolid, Huelva, and Getafe.

Malaga defeated all three with the same score: 1-0. Lin Sen was not unfamiliar with these three teams, as two of them were opponents he faced in the seven matches he coached Atletico Madrid last season. The only team he had not faced, Getafe, was coached by Muñoz, who was the coach of Huelva last season.

Jimenéz looked at the young coach who was currently the most prominent in La Liga and suddenly felt old. At 44, he was considered young in the coaching world, but this season in La Liga seemed to have changed. It had become a world dominated by young coaches. Not to mention the under-30 Lin Sen, Unai Emery, who was leading Valencia with an unbeaten record and second in the standings, was only 36, and Pep Guardiola, who was leading Barcelona in an offensive frenzy, was 37...

Of the top four teams in La Liga, only Jimenéz was over 40.

Of course, age was not the reason Jimenéz smiled genuinely at Lin Sen. The deeper reason was that their coaching experiences were almost identical. Both took over teams mid-season last year, both had good results but were not well-received by the fans. However, Jimenéz's situation was much better than Lin Sen's, as his extensive experience coaching Sevilla's reserve team and the support from the club's management made his position secure. In contrast, Lin Sen was not as fortunate.

When Jimenéz agreed to Monchi's proposal to loan Duda to Malaga for free, this factor was certainly part of his consideration. Thinking about how Lin Sen led Malaga to seven consecutive wins after the last match, while Atletico Madrid suffered a 1-6 defeat to Barcelona at home, Jimenéz's smile deepened: I wonder what the people at Atletico Madrid thought at that moment?

Lin Sen, of course, did not know the reasons behind Jimenéz's smile. He only knew that the other party was friendly, so he was also friendly. Then, his focus shifted to the next match.

Not the second leg of the tough schedule against Barcelona, but the Copa del Rey, which happened to be the next match for La Liga teams.

---

Like many domestic cup competitions in Europe, the Copa del Rey, once even more important than the league, has inevitably lost its appeal to the major clubs in the face of the Champions League. It has gradually become a place for substitutes to find form and young players to develop. Of course, this is only for the major clubs. For smaller teams, the major clubs' disregard makes this competition a fast track to glory, not to mention that the winner of the Copa del Rey can directly qualify for the Europa League.

To avoid the excessive number of matches for La Liga teams, the Copa del Rey, once a cumbersome competition for La Liga teams, has become much simpler. La Liga teams do not participate in the early knockout rounds but directly enter the later home and away matches. Malaga's luck was neither good nor bad; they did not draw a lower-tier team fighting tooth and nail, nor did they draw a major club. Their opponent was the La Liga team, Mallorca.

Their coach was the former Atletico Madrid coach, Manzano, who was making his second stint. For Lin Sen, what caught his attention about Manzano was not just his former Atletico Madrid coaching experience but also the fact that Manzano had won the Copa del Rey. In the 2002-2003 season, Manzano led Mallorca, which then had Eto'o on the team, to win the Copa del Rey.

Clearly, Manzano would not easily give up on this competition that had once brought him glory.

On the Malaga side, the club's management did not set any specific targets for Lin Sen, meaning they would go as far as they could. However, the fans, at least, did not want the team to give up on this competition, and the coaching staff had no clear conclusion. Tapia's opinion was not to give up.

His reasoning was that although Malaga was currently leading the league, the season was still long. But at least Malaga had proven one thing: they had the ability to defeat strong teams. Therefore, instead of focusing solely on the league, they should also try for the Copa del Rey. Moreover, this competition would only affect a few league matches, and with good luck, they could avoid strong teams.

Lin Sen still had reservations about Tapia's opinion.

Not for any other reason, but because the first leg against Mallorca and the match against Barcelona were only three days apart.

This would be the first time this season that Malaga faced a double-header in a week.

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PS: Originally, I did not plan for Malaga to have such a smooth start, and even the match against Real Madrid was supposed to be a draw. However, as I wrote, it turned into a win, and then came the seven consecutive wins, which seemed to be a natural progression. This actually deviated from the original outline. I thought about changing it, but decided not to. This is fine, just like how I didn't force a plot twist for the Atletico Madrid arc, there's no need to force a difficult path now. After all, this is the arc where the protagonist gains fame.

I couldn't help but ramble a bit, hoping it won't affect your reading experience. Apologies.