It looks like Esteban got a haircut!
ONE. Madrid held their last training session before the midweek game against Málaga, tomorrow night (22h) at the Bernabéu. The absences at the session were Pepe (flu and fever), Garay (muscle problems in his right abductor; he was unable to complete yesterday’s session), Khedira and Higuaín, while Sergio Canales has recovered from the left ankle injury he sustained in training last week and was able to join his teammates for the first time since then.
TWO. All 20 of the healthy players were called up for the game, which will be Manuel Pellegrini’s return to the Bernabéu after he was fired at the end of last season. I hope he gets a good reception from us in appreciation of all that he did last year.
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Adán, Dudek.
Defenders: Carvalho, Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Arbeloa, Marcelo.
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Özil, Canales, Di María, Lass, Kaká, Granero, Pedro León, Gago.
Forwards: Cristiano, Benzema, Adebayor.
THREE. During his press conference, Mou was in an offensive mood. He once again criticized those who decide the schedule of games, and it’s not worth repeating here what was said. He also called one journalist “a hypocrite” but later apologized. And he said that the “club’s communication strategy is for me to show my face.” As for Pellegrini, Mou remarked, “if I were kicked out of Madrid, I wouldn’t go coach Málaga, but rather a big team in Italy or England.” Pellegrini wisely chose not to respond to that.
FOUR. It’s being reported that Madrid has renewed the contract of one of their most promising starlets, Juvenil A forward Jesé Rodríguez. His new contract ties him to the club until 2014, and according to Marca, the buyout clause is a cool €30 million! Not bad for someone who just turned 18, no? Jesé has already debuted with Castilla and should be playing with them next year. At the same time, Madrid also extended the contract of Jesé’s teammate, central defender Derik Osede, who has been with Madrid since he was nine.
FIVE. Competition has rescinded the yellow card that Pepe received against Deportivo last week for “approaching a rival player but without ending up insulting or threatening him,” meaning that his yellow card count currently stands at zero, after he served a one-game suspension against Getafe in jornada 17 for accumulating too many cards. Not that this matters right now, because Pepe is sick and missed the call-up.
SIX. Esteban Granero is already making a splash on twitter. He’s been Xabi-esque so far, as he’s tweeted about literature, and in both Spanish and English! He also found the time to respond to his former Real Madrid teammate Juan Mata, who asked for tips from his followers on how to beat Barcelona.
Today, he tweeted about his choice of music before today’s training session.
And I love that he’s following Quique González!
SEVEN. Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo tweeted about visiting Banco Espirito Santo’s HQ in Madrid (Cris is the face of the Portuguese bank). I love the picture on the left where it looks like Cris is struggling to stay awake in front of all the numbers and charts, or at least wondering what it’s all about.
EIGHT. And this week’s Crackòvia, in which we’re introduced to Ángel di María. Of course, they made fun of Sergio’s “tres puntos” gaffe from the Champions League game. I love the gaitas at the beginning!
Yes to the shorts, although I don’t know why the people of Crackòvia believe that Ángel wants to be like Cris.
MO: The (Mallorca)-Barcelona game is over, they won 0-3!
SR: What?
MO: 0-3.
SR: Ohhh. If you speak Catalan, I won’t be able to understand you!
CR: It will be up to me to win the game for Madrid, like always. Because you all are idiots.
ADM: Yes, that. You all are idiots.
Ángel di María: he’s called “the skinny one” or “the beanpole.” I suppose I don’t have to explain why, no? He’s so thin that when he showers, he has to be careful not to be washed down the drain.
ADM: You’re an idiot, and you’re an idiot.
CR: And YOU’RE an idiot, and you’re not even a starter.
ADM: Yes, that. You’re not even a starter.
CR: No, YOU’RE not a starter. In addition, you’re ugly. Ugly players shouldn’t be able to to sign with Madrid to protect the image of the team.
SR: It’s a good thing then that you and I are a couple of sex symbols.
ADM: Shhh, Guardiola’s starting his press conference!
SR: You can hear that?
CR: I’m not surprised, with those Dumbo-like ears that he has…
MO: What’s he saying?
ADM: He’s saying that they played best during the first half hour.
CR: This is terrible!
ADM: Yes, this is so terrible!
MO: Barça, once again seven points ahead of us. They’re so far away that even I can’t see them.
CR: No idiots, I’m talking about the fact that Messi scored and I didn’t. He’s going to beat me to win the pichichi.
ADM: And he’s going to beat me too.
SR: What bad luck! We’ve lost three points again, just as we did against Lyon. But a tie away from home is not a bad result! Although it would have been better to tie 1-1.
CR: What are you saying, you idiot?
ADM: Yes, what are you saying, you idiot?
SR: I’m only saying that because away goals count double. But there’s no need to panic, because we’re definitely going to win the second leg in the Bernabéu!
MO: No, we already played in the Bernabéu during the primera vuelta and we won 6-1!
SR: What? We already won 6-1 in the Bernabéu? So, we’ve already qualified!
CR: You idiot, this is the Liga!
SR: It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Liga or the Champions! If we win 0-0 here and win 6-1 in the Bernabéu, who’s the winner? We are! Think about it Cristiano!
Children of Crackòvia, please forgive my teammate, because with so many competitions, he gets mixed up. It’s clear that the Liga and the Champions League are different. They’re as different as… baloncesto and básquet (both are terms for “basketball,” which Sergio apparently didn’t know, as per his Real… interview).