Today’s plans: Madrid will train at 15:30h at Valdebebas, and take a flight to Barcelona once the session is over, at 17:30. Once in the Ciudad Condal, Aitor Karanka and Karim Benzema will speak to the press from the Camp Nou at 19:30h, as Karanka will be on the bench tomorrow. He has a record of 3-0 (wins against Sporting and Athletic in the Liga and Auxerre in the CL). Mou will, according to AS, watch the game from the palco de honor. The team will stay at the Juan Carlos I hotel, which overlooks the Camp Nou. Coincidentally, Javi Martínez (!!!) and his Athletic teammates are also there right now (go here), as they’re playing Espanyol tonight.
Also today, UEFA’s Disciplinary Committee will meet in Nyon, and on the originally scheduled Friday, to discuss (1) their own cases against Madrid and Barcelona, (2) the complaints of Barcelona against Madrid and (3) the complaints of Madrid against Barcelona, and take action.
For (1), UEFA will discuss the issues of the pitch invasion during last week’s game, the throwing of objects, Pepe’s red card, Mou’s expulsion and his postgame declarations, as well as the expulsion of Pinto on the Barcelona side. For (2), UEFA will study whether Mou’s declarations hurt Barcelona’s image.
And for (3), UEFA will have to decide whether Barcelona’s players displayed unsportsmanlike behavior during the game, especially in the area of simulating or exaggerating the consequences of fouls. Madrid believes that Pedro faked a shot to the face after colliding with Arbeloa, which resulted in a yellow card for the latter, Busquets pretended that Marcelo hit him in the face, that Pepe did not touch Alves in the challenge that resulted with him being sent off, and that Keita pushed Arbeloa on the way to the locker room but was not punished. Madrid has provided video evidence of the above. The club wants UEFA to sanction six Barcelona players – Alves, Pedro and Busquets (two games each), and Keita, Valdés and Mascherano (one game each) – with unsportsmanlike behavior, as well as Pep Guardiola, as they believe that the players were following his orders in using these tactics. If these players are suspended, they will miss out on tomorrow’s game. UEFA will only “discuss” these issues today, and not make any decisions today (naturally).
What, no peeking this time, Sergio Busquets? And poor Pedro, he couldn’t peek even if he wanted to, because it was his “eye” that was injured, despite his shoulder colliding with Arbeloa’s shoulder.
Via a video posted on their web site, Madrid has also spoken out against Busquets for calling Marcelo a “monkey,” and raised concerns about the assignment of Frank de Bleeckere to the game, noting that he was the referee who fell for Sergio Busquets’ theatrics last year in the semifinal game between Mourinho’s Inter and Barcelona, showing a red card to Thiago Motta.
You can see the two videos with all their points here. Barcelona has also produced their own video showing Madrid’s players stepping on Barcelona’s players and “manitas” to motivate their fans.
Meanwhile, Castilla continued their non-losing streak – it now stands at 17! – with a 3-1 win over Badajoz last night. It also means that Alberto Toril is still unbeaten in his time as Castilla’s coach. Joselu, Pablo Sarabia and MFC scored for Castilla, who is now one point away from claiming a spot in the playoffs. Their next game is this Sunday against Rayo B at home in the Di Stéfano.
After the game, Jorge Casado tweeted that everyone was “very, very happy” and MFC tweeted that his goal was dedicated to Denis.
And some of the world’s top tennis players, in Madrid to play in the Madrid Open, spoke about Real Madrid. The club’s unconditional fan Rafa Nadal told a press conference that “of course I’ll watch the game [tomorrow’s CL semifinal]. I’m a fan of football and obviously you wouldn’t want to miss a game like that. I don’t think Madrid will need a miracle in order to classify.” And Andy Murray, in a chat with El Mundo, admitted that he likes Barcelona for their football, but “I really, really like Mourinho. I like him a lot.”
