In case you missed it – Real Madrid vs. Atlético de Madrid [2011-11-26, Liga jornada 14, 4-1].
Madrid’s unbeaten streak against its city rival is now at 12 years and 22 games (20 Liga games, two Copa del Rey games). Atleti has not beaten Madrid since Oct. 30, 1999, and since then, the balance has been 16 wins and six ties for Real Madrid. The battle of the capital once again goes to Madrid.
ONE. Before the game, Iker received a tribute from his club for breaking the most games played record with the Spanish national team. For his 127 games in the Spain shirt, Iker received a commemorative trophy from FP, and an ovation from his home crowd. Don’t you think the trophy looks like it’s made of milk chocolate?
I absolutely love that Iker decided to stick his gloves down the back of shorts during the ceremony, in order to free up his hands, instead of giving them to someone to hold or putting them on the ground. Once he had handed the trophy to Agustín Herrerín after the ceremony, he started making his way back to his goal. Along the way, he removed the gloves, gave a high-five to Cris and a kiss to Sergio.
How lucky is that pair of gloves?
TWO. Prior to this game, there were only a few teams in the Spanish league that Cristiano hadn’t scored against in the Liga, and Atleti was one of them. Now he can cross them off his list. The first goal saw another coordinated celebration from Marcelo, Cris and Pepe, with Marcelo and Cris waiting for Pepe to join them in order to jump up together. Maybe they didn’t have time to practice something more elaborate?
Ángel celebrated his goal by blowing kisses to the crowd…
… and of course sending a message to his wife. I love Ángel and the energy he brings, but really, he spends way too much time on the ground.
Also of note during the celebration for Ángel’s goal: Lass running up to the group and inserting himself in their midst. Meanwhile Pipita got very exuberant in celebrating his goal.
Was he pretending to be an airplane?
During the celebration for the last goal, Cris made Marcelo laugh, while Pepe was concentrating more on teasing José Callejón than celebrating.
THREE. The Ultras Sur always unveil a huge banner poking fun at Atleti during the derbies, and they’re always very, very original. This year was no exception, with this gambling-themed banner of a guy putting all his bets on the white.
During the second half of the game, they held up this sign, which made me laugh: “we’re looking for a worthy rival in order to have a decent derby. Apply here.”
Here’s what it looked like in the 2009-10 season and the 2010-11 season.
I had mentioned in an earlier post that I wished that Mou wouldn’t publicly support the ultras, and it’s because they have a past history of violence and racist and fascist attitudes which have been directed at the opposition, and I’m against that type of thing.
FOUR. How adorable is Marcelo? And how lovely is his hair?
FIVE. Speaking of hair, thoughts on Cris’ overly-gelled, combover? I prefer this one to any “fashion” one he has.
SIX. A couple of random moments: Iker being, well Iker, and Cris being a tumbleweed.
SEVEN. After the game, Sergio hugged former teammate (with Sevilla, Real Madrid and the Spanish national team) José Antonio Reyes, and then carried out his captainly duties, applauding the home crowd.
EIGHT. That’s because Iker was busy exchanging his shirt with Salvio, and giving a post-game interview. I’m sure he said some important things, but who can concentrate when he’s sporting that look we all love, the captain’s armband on his bare arm?
The fact that he kept showing his profile didn’t help matters, so in the end, I heard nothing that was coming out of his mouth, though I did notice his tongue coming out of his mouth several times.
NINE. Madrid got one yellow card in the game, and it went to Xabi Alonso. It’s his fifth yellow of a cycle, meaning that he will be suspended for the next game against Sporting.
Pose-wise, Xabi had a pretty busy game.
He looks like he’s modeling in a magazine here!
I adore these two moments.
TEN. The Mou corner.
José Mourinho was a bit pissed off in the post-game press conference, because no one had asked Gregorio Manzano anything about the excessive fouling at his post-game press conference. He also had some other things to say.
on the game: my team didn’t want to play an ugly or a rough game. My team wanted to play and win. We played and we won. Luckily, carbon shinguards exist, they’re expensive but they work.”
on what he thought of his team: the team played very well, always with ambition and motivation. My team did their job. They had to win and they won. They played with discipline. In the 90 minutes, we only received one yellow card. We maintained our calm and concentration. We didn’t hide anything. I would have liked a better game, of course. And if I were a paying spectator, even more so. But it was impossible. What I liked best about my team was the discipline. We didn’t let ourselves get provoked. We maintained our calm. We were kicked and we stayed calm. I like this control over emotions.
ELEVEN. Other things: the result of the Getafe-Barcelona game (1-0) means that Madrid has widened their lead to six points. However, there is a lot of the season left, so it’s best to be cautious, especially when we’re playing Sporting next week (remember what happened at the Bernabéu last season?), and against Barcelona after that. With that said, a big thank you goes out to Getafe and Juan Valera, no?
The team will be back in training on Tuesday, to begin preparing for the trip to Gijón.
Castilla plays in their own derbi madrileño on Sunday, against Atlético de Madrid B at 17h. They hope to remain leaders of the group and prolong their winning streak to six games.
And Álvaro Arbeloa tweeted this photo of Pepe “not spending any money and bringing this home to have for dinner.”
