In case you missed it – Atlético de Madrid vs. Real Madrid [2011-01-20, Copa del Rey quarterfinals second leg.]
Well, Madrid didn’t play its best football, but they were still better than their rivals. Madrid will now face Sevilla in the semifinals of the competition.
I think this line from El País sums up everything that’s been happening lately quite nicely: “In Madrid, if the internal debates are extinguished, then the best may still be to come.” Or, as Álvaro Arbeloa put it,”we have to all go in the same direction. We can’t be shooting ourselves in the foot.”
* aka the Atleti still can’t beat us edition.
ONE. Let’s start off with fun moments. This time, I can make out what Iker is saying: “¡Vamos! ¡Hostia!” Meanwhile, Sergio shows some frustration and Cris laughs at talks things over with the ref. And poor Sergio C., he was all set to check in – while looking a bit nervous and fiddling around with his hair – when Sami Khedira went down and Fernando Gago entered instead. Ok, that wasn’t a fun moment for him, but Sergio C. looked adorable, no?
TWO. Why oh why did the camera not zoom in at this precise moment?
THREE. The beautiful goal, set up by Sergio and finished by Cristiano. Let’s hope their little goal celebration will put an end to all those rumors that Sergio wants out because he doesn’t get along – sigh – with Cristiano. It really looks like Sergio, and Xabi as well, are saying “¡toma!”
Cris also did his usual dedication to his son, and Mou regaled us with a prolonged strut down the sideline, complete with hand motions. Cris also did the classic Raúl “shhhh” gesture.
FOUR. I love Álvaro Arbeloa. I love how he kept rolling his eyes at the referee, and I loved it when he got all confrontational and rough. Mmmm…
FIVE. Postgame declarations:
Sergio, the former Sevilla player – we know it’s not going to be simple against Sevilla, which is a great team. But we have a lot of hope pinned on the Copa and we’re going to fight to reach the final.
Raúl Albiol – I’m the only one on the team that has won the Copa, but it’s the only cup that I have. If one of my teammates wants to exchange a Champions League trophy for it… now, it’s time to face Sevilla.
Arbeloa – the injury to José Antonio Reyes was an accident, completely involuntary.
SIX. Cute niños at the Calderón, including Benjamín Agüero, who was sitting on his father’s lap. He looks like he needs a bit more head support though.
SEVEN. Iker and his crew.
I love how there are four persons around the player lying on the ground (Khedira) and every single one of them is ignoring him.
EIGHT. Front and back.™
Iker.
With Iker, front is always going to come in second to profile.
Kaká.
Marcelo.
Mr. Perfect.
Sami Khedira.
Unfortunately, there were no “fronts” for him because he spent most of the time face down on the ground, so all we have are “backs.”
NINE. Our beautiful banquillo. It was really cold last night.
Further proof comes in the form of Kaká having to remove like ten layers of clothing before getting to his kit. He also had to move to stay warm while waiting to check in.
TEN. The Xabi Alonso (perfect) pose section.™
Xabi used a variety of his usual poses – hands on hips, hand raised, hand pointing…
… but also showed some new poses, which I expect will be added to his repertoire.
I love how his head is swiveling back and forth here (left) and how the cameraman finally gets it right (right).
Xabi smolders (left), and then shows a lot of class -as only he can, and would – by refusing to get drawn into a confrontation with Juanfran (right). If I were Juanfran, I’d be so sad that Xabi ignored me.
ELEVEN. The Mou corner.
In his postgame press conference, Mou talked about the chants of “Mourinho, die!” from some people at the Calderón. He said that he had no problems with it, and even complimented those fans, saying, “they stayed until the very end, when the game was already decided by the 20th minute. Those are fantastic fans, and my hat goes off to them.”
As for his future – the game itself always seems to be the least popular topic at these press conferences – Mou said that, “few rumors end up being the truth. I want to stay until the end of the season (pause). It doesn’t matter if I have a contract for 10 years, because at the end of the season, if everyone is happy, the coach continues, and if not, he doesn’t.” Mou refused to answer any questions about his relationship with Jorge Valdano.
Meanwhile, this is what the players said about el míster after the game:
Marcelo: we’re with José Mourinho to the death.
Iker: the mister has his personality, his character and his way of being, but he’s a committed person. He knows that people worship him and that he’s number one, and this creates a lot of envy, which is why people chant things about him in stadiums. He’s happy in Madrid, and the club is happy with him as well.
Xabi: Mourinho is happy and is the coach that we all want.
TWELVE. Other game notes and looking ahead, sponsored by the duo of Esteban Granero and Fernando Gago, whom we don’t see enough of, especially in the case of El Pirata.
– Pedro León and Pacheco watched the games from the stands.
– Sami Khedira suffered a blow to his right ankle, and had to be subbed out in the 81st minute. He has a deep bruise in the area and the team will watch over his evolution for the next few days to see if he’ll make it to Sunday’s game against Mallorca.
– After the game, FP went to have dinner with madridista Plácido Domingo, who is celebrating his 70th birthday.
– Madrid trained today in a closed session to start preparing for the game on Sunday.
– Madrid will face Sevilla in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, with the first game on Jan. 26 (the RFEF is really rushing this competition along this year, aren’t they?) at the Sánchez Pizjuán, with the vuelta scheduled for one week later, on Feb. 2.