Sometimes the most revealing part of a pre-match press conference is not the game plan, but the temperature around it. Ahead of RCD Mallorca vs UD Las Palmas, Luis García used his platform to dismiss talk of a possible Rubén de la Barrera dismissal as “una barbaridad”, and in doing so he exposed just how quickly football can tilt into overreaction.
García’s central point was simple: three points is not enough to turn a season into a referendum on a coach. At the start of jornada nueve, Rubén de la Barrera was only three points behind Mallorca, which García said made the rumors feel absurd. He argued that the sport has become trapped by “resultadismo”, where one poor run can trigger demands for wholesale change.
That did not stop him from praising de la Barrera in strong terms. García described him as an extraordinary coach who pays attention to detail and improves players, and he also made clear that he retains affection for the people he worked with last season. Still, the message was not sentimental. García said he is a winner, that football is about competing, and that both clubs should be allowed to pursue the objectives they set at the start of the season.
Context matters before Mallorca and Las Palmas meet
García also pushed for a wider view of the table. According to him, the league needs to be contextualized because in the last 10 years no team has been above 20 points at this stage. That matters because it changes how early-season standings are read: what can look like momentum or crisis in October may simply be the shape of the calendar.
For Mallorca, the timing is useful for another reason. After the international break, Martin Valjent, Zito Luvumbo and Lucas Bergström returned to the squad, and García said they are available to start. He added that the internationals came back well and healthy, with only a slight shoulder issue for Zito, who still featured in his last match with his national team.
That gives García more options at a moment when internal competition appears to be pushing standards upward. He said that battle for places helps raise the level, even if it makes selection difficult and occasionally unfair on those left out. In his view, that is the coach’s problem to solve, with decisions based on what he thinks will happen next, not on outside noise.
So the match against Las Palmas arrives with more than points at stake. It is also a test of perspective: how much weight should be given to early-season pressure, and how much should be reserved for the broader rhythm of a long campaign? García’s answer was clear. Ignore the noise, trust the squad, and let the football do the speaking.
