who’s going to drive the Madrid car?

The news from yesterday.

One. The players received their Audi cars yesterday at the Bernabéu.  The entire team, with the exception of Sami Khedira (he had permission to travel to Germany for personal reasons, and also missed the earlier training session) was present, along with the other usual suspects – FP, JV, ZZ…  Mou was also there, the first coach to attend the event.  A fleet of Audi A1s took the players to the stadium in pairs, where their new cars were lined up.  Twenty-six children, the sons and daughters of socios, got to hand the car keys to the players, and received hugs and autographs in response.  And when Mou went up to get his car, his players started whistling at him.

Meanwhile, Iker and Sergio had the honor of acting as car models, when they uncovered and posed next to a car specially decorated with a Real Madrid motif.  When’s Marca and/or AS going to start offering it for 20 coupons plus a payment?

They’re pretty good models, no?

Ricardo Carvalho also took the time to reassure everyone that he was alright, though he was still sporting a bandage under his left eye: “I’m better now.  On the field, I was very worried.  But now I just have a normal amount of pain.”

Of note: last year, the cars were handed out right before the Alcorconazo.  Interestingly enough, this year the next game is also a Copa del Rey game.

And here’s to hoping that Karim Benzema won’t crash this car!

The breakdown:

A5: Mateos

A5 Sportback: Lass

A7 Sportback: Xabi, Khedira, Sergio, Arbeloa, Özil, Iker, Mou

RS5: Cristiano

RS6: Kaká

Q5: Benzema, Canales, Pedro León

Q7: Pepe, Albiol, Higuaín, Garay, Marcelo, Diarrá, Carvalho, Di María, Adán, Dudek, Gago

S3 Sportback: Granero

In case you’re wondering, here’s what they all chose last year.  It appears that this year, Lass/Mateos/Granero chose the least expensive cars, while Kaká went for the most expensive one (which the king of Spain also has).  I’m assuming they weren’t allowed to choose from the very top of the line.  You can see all the models and prices here.

And the breakdown by color (to make it easier for anyone who wants to stalk):

Black: Adán, Albiol, Gago

Blue: Canales, Cris, Garay

White: Higuaín, Pepe, Lass, Carvalho, Marcelo, Diarrá, Dudek

Gunmetal gray: Kaká, Benzema, Mou, Iker, Sergio, Xabi, Khedira, Özil, Arbeloa

Silver: Pedro León

Brown: Di María

Red: Granero, Mateos

And it wouldn’t be an event without Álvaro Arbeloa tweeting about it!

Earlier in the day, he confirmed that Sergio Canales does not have a twitter account.  Seriously, people, if Álvaro does not confirm it, then it’s fake, so don’t go believing any Real Madrid twitter accounts other than the ones of Xabi, Pipita, Cris, Kaká, Sergio and Fernando Gago.

By the way, Audi event fashion post coming up!

Two. Injury news – it seems like Fernando Gago can’t get a break!  Just when we all thought we were finally going to get to see him play (and luckily, without the mullet), it transpires that he’s out for ANOTHER two to three weeks, after an MRI on his left knee showed swelling near the site where he had previously had surgery.  Meanwhile, an MRI revealed that David Mateos has muscle problems in his right leg, and he’s expected to be out for 10-15 days.

Three. Iker’s brother Unai made his official debut with Móstoles last night (he had previously made an appearance in a friendly), starting the game which his team lost to Atleti C.  Unai played 70 minutes of the game.  Móstoles is currently 13th in group 7 of the third division.