la Champions tonight!

First off, I just want to say how much I love the Champions League training shirts!  That shade of blue is gorgeous, and everyone looks so good in them!  Does this one also come in a sleeveless variety?  I also like how the coaching staff changes along with the players – when the players were wearing white training shirts, the staff wore navy ones.  And now that the team is in blue, the staff is in white!  No monograms in sight though…

Meanwhile, the goalkeepers wore green shirts.  That should indicate that Iker will be wearing the green jersey tonight, since the light blue training jersey gave way to the light blue jersey in games.  And Iker’s shoes matched the green shirt, as expected.

All of the available players (21 out of the 25) were called up for tonight’s game against Ajax.  It’s easier (and takes up much less space) to write about who WASN’T called up, so here are the players who will be watching the game from the stands: Albiol, Garay, Kaká and Gago.

In other news, as the team made their way to the Mirasierra Suites hotel for the concentración – in blue leisurewear polos that matched their training shirts – Cris showed off a new hairstyle, what looks to be a fauxhawk.  Thoughts?

And Álvaro Arbeloa – who else – tweeted from the hotel to say that he was at the hotel.

Will Arbeloa one day become mayor of the Mirasierra Suites?  With Mou requiring concentraciones before each home game, he has a good chance…

And Pipita talked to the press, saying that they’re comfortable playing with three forwards, that he hopes the goals will come against Ajax [time to uncap that ketchup bottle?], that the team needs to win an “important” title this year [understatement of the year, no?], and that he believes José Mourinho is the right coach for the team.

Meanwhile, club legend Luis Figo, during a watch presentation, had this to say about TSO: “he’s a man that will help the team via his qualities as a person and as a coach.  He’s a great communicator and an honest person with his players.  He’s a winning coach and what Madrid needed.”  We also found out that Luis doesn’t see himself as a coach in the future, and that his objective now is to spend time with his family.