On December 30, 1962, Madrid visited Mallorca and lost 5-2. It was a major surprise. That broke the relations between both clubs, not exactly because of the victory. Or maybe it is.
It was the penultimate day of the first round and Madrid was leading. Mallorca had appeared in the First Division in 60-61; So recent among the greats, it was a team without pedigree, which after saving the category the first two seasons in this one was in the middle of the table. He had a team equipped with a jewel at the center of the forward line, Pepillo, a unique footballer. Melillense, had triumphed at Sevilla to such an extent that Madrid signed him as a possible successor to Di Stefano. But Di Stأ©fano was not burdened by age and Pepillo, after a loan to River Plate, had been transferred to Mallorca at the beginning of that season. In his 29 official appearances for Madrid he had scored 28 goals. Mallorca paid 1,500,000 pesetas for him, a record in the club’s history; as was his token: 700,000.
The president of Mallorca, Lorenzo Munar, promised Bernabأ©ua not to field him against Madrid. An oral agreement, not included in the contract. But when the day came, it seemed strange that without prior explanation (which would have been ominous for both parties) Pepillo was left out of the team. José Luis Saso, coach, made the manager, Francisco Vidal, see it this way; He called his Real Madrid counterpart, Antonio Calderón, a tough guy who told him to go for a walk. Then Munar called Barnabas, but he could not find him all day Saturday, nor on Sunday morning. Munar, captain of the Army, was bothered that Bernabeu shunned him and decided to authorize his alignment, taking refuge in something like administrative silence.
The old Lluأs Sitjar was packed when the two teams left at four in the afternoon. Murmurs had spread through the street about whether Pepillo was yes or no and seeing him there caused general satisfaction. The one missing was Di Stأ©fano, who missed several games that season for the first time due to back discomfort. He was replaced by Yanko Daucik, son of a famous coach. A forward as big and technical as he is slow. “Two cubic meters as a forward,†that’s how an older cousin ironically defined it to me. The rest of the team was the gala team, with Amancio, Fأ©lix Ruiz, Puskas and Gento completing the lead,
It would be a historic afternoon for Mallorca, who won 5-2, with two from Pepillo. Muأ±oz Lusarreta, vice president who traveled at the front of the team (Bernabأ©u almost never did so) left at half-time in protest against the Melilla team’s lineup, but not before reminding Munar of some previous favor, such as the transfer by Di Stأ©fano two summers before for the premiere of the artificial lighting of the Lluأs Sitjar, and announce that relations were broken.
Defeat hit Madrid like a shot. Among the white fans, who had a lot of affection for Pepillo and none for Yanko, discontent spread over having released the former to make way for Daucik’s son, who also never coached Madrid and his three greats rivals: Barأ§a, Athletic and Atlأ©tico.
On January 6, when the team returned to the Bernabأ©u, there was a double fight: against the team for the defeat and against Di Stأ©fano, who reappeared after a Christmas in which his Berkshire socks advertisement (in which he was seen in a photomontage with women’s legs) had embarrassed Real Madrid fans. The fight was terrible, but Di Stefano, in his own way, scored two goals, and Madrid beat Athletic 3-2. The one who paid for the fall in Mallorca was goalkeeper Araquistain. Vicente, starter the previous year, returned to the position.
Madrid regained its winning rhythm and after beating Atlético on matchday 24, it was proclaimed mathematical champion with five games still to be played. The penultimate game was their turn to host Mallorca, who were in danger of promotion. Pepillo returned to play; total, relations broken… Neither the fans nor the club had forgotten the grievance and as Madrid had eased the tension with the title assured, there were whistles and even shouts of tongo.
At half-time it was 1-0 and in the second half Madrid turned to produce a 5-2 score, in perfect symmetry with that of the first round. Laundered offense. Mallorca was in a promotion position, it was Espanyol’s turn and that was resolved in a playoff match at the Bernabeu, where the Balearic team lost 1-0 and returned to the Second Division.
