I really want to win the Copa del Rey this year.
The third step towards that will come tomorrow, when Madrid takes on neighbors Atlético in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals at home. Today, the team held their last training session, in which the 21 available players available on the first team (minus the injured Pepe, Higuaín and Dudek, as well as Diarra, who had permission from the club to be absent due to family problems – he had to travel to Mali because his mother is very sick) plus now familiar face Fernando Pacheco trained at the orders of “the best coach in the world,” as the video on Madrid’s web site put it – they didn’t waste any time, did they?
By the way, Dudek’s recovery is going as scheduled and he’s expected to be back in two weeks time.
You can always count on Marcelo to make the training session fun. And while some are working hard – judging by the intense look of concentration on Carvalho’s face – others are busy posing (guess who?), easily distracted (Albiol) or fixing their hair (el Pirata).
The call-up for the game is as follows. Canales, Mateos and Diarra were left off due to the coach’s decision. And no Morata.
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Adán, Pacheco.
Defenders: Carvalho, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Albiol, Garay.
Midfielders: Gago, Khedira, Lass, Granero, Alonso, Pedro León, Di María, Kaká, Özil.
Forwards: Cristiano and Benzema.
In his press conference, Mou said the following:
on the water bottle throwing incident in the Villarreal game: I’m happy that they took away the red card from Cani. I have no problems with him not being sanctioned. But if one of my players had done that, I’m sure he would be sanctioned for three months and if it were me, I would not be allowed to coach anymore. But anyway nothing happened, the bottle was almost empty, it wasn’t an aggression, it was just a gesture of someone else who thought that what I was doing had a negative connotation.
on Gonzalo Higuaín: I tried to speak with him but I wasn’t able to. It’s normal that he doesn’t pick up the phone because he needs to rest. But I spoke with the doctor, and everything is normal. It was as I had expected; I said he would be out for a while. I don’t expect him back this season. I’m not disappointed, what happened is normal.
on his desire for another forward: it’s not a battle between the club and me. I spoke with them two months ago to tell them how I saw the situation. I was honest, because my experience told me that Pipa would not play anymore this season, even though I don’t know much about medicine. The club knows my position, but the club is the decision maker, I work here and the decision of the club is the decision of the club. I can’t tell you any details about the things I spoke with the president or the directors about.
on tomorrow’s line-up: today, I’m not going to reveal the starters. I might make a change. Kaká is progressing, he’s played three games and he’s improving.
on his own behavior: I always try to be honest, only that.
on why the players are starting the concentración at 22h today instead of the usual 20h: Casillas is a bit annoying and he asks me and asks me for that every day (laughs), to give them two extra hours so that they can have dinner at home or outside. In any case, giving them a couple more hours when the game tomorrow is at 22h is something that’s normal.
Meanwhile, over in Chicago, Dr. Carlos Díez called the operation a success and satisfactory. He said that Gonzalo is already walking and that he’s feeling good. The doctor is optimistic that Pipita can start training in six to 10 weeks time.
And those four months that Higuaín’s expected to be out don’t look so bad once you hear that Villarreal player Ángel López, who went down in the 62nd minute in the game against Madrid, will be out for six months with a torn ACL in his left knee. He was operated on yesterday as well, and also successfully. Here’s to a fast recovery for Ángel.