In case you missed it – AC Milan vs. Real Madrid [2010-11-03].
It was suspenseful and a bit unfair, but we are through to the round of 16, and if we get one more point in group play, we’ll be the leaders of the group. The two remaining games are at Ajax on Nov. 23, and at home vs. Auxerre on Dec. 8.
The hero of the night was of course Peter Lion.
He even looks a bit like a lion in this picture, as he has the mane, and is roaring!
One. The goals were great, and both came resulted from excellent passes as we were getting ready to take a break, and in the case of Peter Lion’s, as we were losing hope and facing our very first defeat of the season.
Two. If the goals were great, then the goal celebrations were epic.
For Pipa’s goal, the celebration started with what looked to be a square dance move between Sergio and Gonzalo, which the cameraman did not capture, but luckily, the photographers did. And then later on with the group, we once again saw a lot of head rubbing, which seems to be their preferred method of celebrating goals at the moment (they’d end up with a lot of gel and other hair products on their hands though, considering how much our players use).
Pipita entered Madrid’s record book by scoring the club’s 700th goal in the Champions League. Guti had scored number 500 in 2000 and Becks had the honor of scoring number 600 in 2003. So, it only took three years to score 100 goals between numbers 500 and 600, and seven years for numbers 600 to 700? That just shows how awful we’ve been in the CL in the last eight years.
When Peter Lion scored, the players erupted off the bench and ran down the sideline (check out the person dancing along on the sideline on the left gif). It was great that the two players that the press had made out to be “dead” to Mourinho, Karim Benzema and Pedro León, combined for this very important goal. ¡Toma!
But the prize for best celebration went to none other than José Mourinho, with this little victory dance. He added to the fun when he rushed over to remove Raúl Albiol from the goal celebration in order to get him into the game, to provide some last minute defense. Mou even tried to help Albiol remove his vest, without any success.
Jordi Codina congratulated Pedro León via twitter, saying, “I’m so happy for Pedro León!!! He deserves it!!!!” Yes he did!
Pedro León’s goal was the first goal scored by a Spanish player this season. He said after the game, “the most important thing about the goal is that it helped the team. I’m very happy that we got the tie because we deserved it.”
Three. A focus on boots. This will be the last time we see Cris in the pink boots, as he’s scheduled to debut his leopard ones this weekend against Atleti. But will Mesut Özil also be changing his? I’m sure he’s lower on the Nike pecking order than Cris, along with everyone else.
Four. The Cristiano section.
At one point during the game, Cris lifted his shirt to wipe off sweat. Once again, the cameraman did not get the shot we wanted, but luckily the photographers did. Wow.
More from Cris, doing my least favorite gesture and some bicicletas. In addition, it wasn’t his finest day on the field, in terms of acting.
And it appears that Cris has returned to his previous hairstyle! I prefer this one, which doesn’t scream fashion (in the negative Spanish way).
Five. For me, no post is complete without some Iker. Here, we have him warming up before the game (I like the black shorts for providing a respite from all the green), and his reaction after the first Milan goal. Doesn’t it look like he’s praying to God, asking Him to help out San Iker and his followers?
Six. My beloved Zizou was at the game, taking the seat next to JV in the palco and relegating El Buitre to the second row.
His first day of work as the link between the club and the players was yesterday, when he met with Mou and the players at the hotel in the afternoon. During the game, he went back to his old role as he sat in the box with the directors.
According to Marca, Zizou ran into Marco Materazzi in the hotel (Materazzi was visiting Mou; see below), the first time they had come face to face since that infamous World Cup final. They greeted each other and at first their dialogue was a bit cold, but then it warmed up and it appears they made peace, because they ended with a hug. Yay!!!
Seven. Marcelo was quite chatty throughout the game! He and Ricardo Carvalho talked through the entire Champions League hymn, and then as the players came out for the second half, he was seen yapping it up with Sergio. I wonder why Sergio’s gripping Marcelino’s wrist?
Eight. Pepe exchanged shirts with Ronaldinho after the first half. Why then?
Nine. The boys in their trajes before the game. Very nice.
Ten. Some pregame moments – Mou rallied his players, Sergio greeted Milan’s players and Iker made some weird facial expressions. Was he warming up his mouth to be able to shout the equivalent of “Guti, Guti, GUTI!!!”? Perhaps it was be “Özil, Özil, ÖZIL!!!!”?
Eleven. Sergio hair really does look so sleek, shiny and soft. It’s begging to be touched.
Twelve. Sami vs. Sergio, in the battle of aerial moves. Sergio got very high, since his foot got to the level of Ibra’s head, and Ibra is 1.95m tall!
I’m so happy to finally have a Sami Khedira moment to include! This is his first real appearance in an ICYMI post.
Thirteen. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™
Looks like Xabi decided to do a lot of pointing and hands-on-hips last night.
PS – What in the world did Xabi do to make Howard Webb hate him so much? Exhibit A: the World Cup final. Exhibit B: minute 61, last night.
Fourteen. The Mou section.
Right before the game, Mou was looked bored, and had his feet propped up. But as soon as the game started, he became the picture of concentration.
Other fun moments: chewing gum, and doing what looks to be a sarcastic version of that Cris goal celebration.
Mou said after the game that Pedro León had scored a “historic goal” and that he was very happy with Benzema, and that if he keeps this up, then he might have to give him a place in the starting lineup.
I also loved what Mou said about the rest of the team: “we have a fantastic group, and sometimes the people on the bench are even more involved in the game than those on the field. I couldn’t be happier with my players.”
And it’s not only his current players that he loves, but some of his former ones as well: Mou received the visits of Sammy Eto’o, Julio César, Paolo Orlandoni and Marco Materazzi, as well as that of his former assistant Giuseppe Baresi, at Madrid’s hotel in the morning before the game.
Fifteen. Looking ahead:
– the players have the day off today, with training resuming tomorrow ahead of Sunday’s derbi madrileño.
– Rubén de la Red and Jorge Valdano held a press conference today at Valdebebas, where Rubén announced his retirement from football.
– meanwhile, the Real Madrid Foundation will hold the ALMA awards tonight at 20h, at the Teatros del Canal. Rafa Nadal and Alfredo di Stéfano will receive awards, and the entire team is expected to be there, even though they have the day off.