this weekend’s talking points

A bit late, but better late than never, right?  What to talk about this weekend with your fellow Real Madrid fans as we count down to the games tonight.

One. More on Cristiano’s game ball:  we already know what Sergio and Xabi wrote, so here are a few more dedications.

– Arbeloa: Congratulations, Portuguese.  I’ll see you in the gym.

– Granero: Piratinha.

– Casillas: Casillas. (Seriously.  Iker signed his name and wrote “Casillas” under it).  Maybe there’s some sort of hidden meaning?

Two. Cuatro interviewed Xabi Alonso yesterday, and after watching the video two times (the first time, I was too mesmerized by his voice and gestures to pay attention to what he was saying), we learn that the team is full of hope and that they know that they have to win their game (nothing new there, so I won’t write what else he said).   The fun part came when the interviewer asked Xabi to fill in a quiniela with his predictions for the Madrid-Athletic and the Sevilla-Barcelona game.  Xabi got confused and wrote that Barcelona would win or tie their game, and when that was pointed out to him, changed his prognostic to a win for Sevilla or a tie.  (In case you don’t know, a quiniela is like a Spanish betting game, where you predict the outcomes of the games.  A “1” signifies the home team will win, an “x” signifies a tie and a “2” signifies a win for the visiting team.

You can watch the video here.

Three. Cristiano and Pipita combined have scored more goals than the entire Athletic team this season, 51 to 47, as well as 11 other teams: Depor, Osasuna, Espanyol, Almería, Zaragoza, Sporting, Málaga, Racing, Tenerife, Valladolid and Xerez.

Four. Zinedine Zidane continues to spread his sex appeal around the world, when he’s not busy advising FP or searching for the next crack.  Here’s the evidence.

Five. Sergio Ramos continues on his hot hair streak; are his bad hair days a thing of the past?  His hair has been looking great and very, very glossy recently.  It also looks very touchable – I’m itching to run my fingers through his hair.  This is from his appearance on Punto Pelota.  If I have time, I’ll watch the interview and write up the interesting parts!

Six. No one on the bench tonight will have a radio (to find out what’s going on in the Sevilla-Barça game).  They expect to know from the reaction of the crowd (in the Bernabéu, they flash the scores of the other games once in a while, and the stadium always boos when Barça’s score comes on, and cheer if they’re losing/have lost).

Seven. A guy named Emilio Ibáñez made a bronze bust of Cristiano Ronaldo (it took him four months and is worth 6,000 euros) and traveled to Madrid with his wife from their home in Murcia to give it to Cristiano.  But he didn’t manage to catch Cristiano Ronaldo as he was leaving Valdebebas yesterday, so he wasn’t able to give it to him.  Emilio would also like to make a bust of FP, who to him is “San Florentino.”