all set for Barcelona (again)!

This morning at Valdebebas, Madrid held their last training session before tomorrow’s Copa del Rey final (21:30h) in Valencia against Barcelona.  Twenty-one players were at the disposition of José Mourinho on this Tuesday morning.  The absences were the injured Lass (he was seen running outside) and Gago (working out inside), while Raúl Albiol was excused since he can’t play in the game.  Sami Khedira trained with his teammates for the first 10 minutes, but then headed inside before the session was completed.  The session was supposed to start at 11h, but the players didn’t come out onto the field until 45 minutes later.  Aitor Karanka took part in the session as both a coach and as a player.

Where did Xabi go?  Marcelo looks a bit odd with that headband!  And I hope the bandage around Sergio’s lower right leg doesn’t mean anything! 

Nineteen footballers were called up for tomorrow’s game.  Gago and Lass were left out due to injury, Albiol due to sanction and Pedro León and Sergio Canales due to the coach’s decision.

Goalkeepers: Iker, Adán, Dudek.

Defenders: Garay, Sergio Ramos, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Arbeloa.

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Özil, Di María, Khedira, Granero, Kaká.

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Adebayor, Higuaín, Benzema.

I’d like to know what’s going on in the minds of Ricky x 2 and Esteban in these exact moments.

The team will travel to Valencia later this afternoon, and Mou will give a press conference (I’ll update this post with those things later or tomorrow, since it is Semana Santa!).

The bromance that gets dressed / stretches together stays together?  And still loving Cris’ hair!

Random assortment of things

This article tells us that Mesut Özil’s teammates say that he’s a great guy, and that despite not speaking much castellano, “he understands everything by looking at people’s faces although he doesn’t know what is being said.”

Fun fact: Madrid’s information hotline is 902 31 17 09.  The 902 is a normal prefix for business hotlines, but do you know why the numbers 31, 17 and 09 were chosen?  It’s because they represent the number of Ligas, Copas del Rey and Champions Leagues, respectively, that Madrid has won.  So hopefully on Thursday, the number will be changed to 902 31 18 09!

And to round off this post, excerpts from a chat that Fernando Morientes did with readers of Marca.

The player I had the best understanding with was Raúl.  Those were my most fruitful years.  With him, things are so much easier.

I learned many things (with Raúl), especially in giving everything for the shirt we wore… I’m sure he will return to Madrid.