the round-up: Athletic

I had to wait five long months for the Real Madrid-Athletic game at the Bernabéu, since the players’ strike back in August had led to the first jornada being re-scheduled for the end of January.  I was eagerly anticipating this game, for several reasons (I think you can guess why, no?).  I went away happy with the win and for the opportunity to see Javi (!!!) play.

Jan. 20 – training, and a conversation.

The team got Thursday (Jan. 19) off, and resumed training on Friday for Sunday’s game against Athletic.

According to Marca, Friday’s training session was a tense one. Mou had divided the group of players into the starters from the clásico and the substitutes/unused players/canteranos. In his chat with the starters, he lectured the players (minus Pepe, who had stayed indoors and Iker, who was working out with the goalkeepers) for the defeat.  Apparently, Mou didn’t like the mistakes, especially defensive ones, that the team had made over the course of the game, and he let his players know that.  No one was exempt from the criticism and reproaches except Cristiano.  In fact, Cris was used as an example by Mou.

On Sunday, Marca divulged the supposed transcript of the conversation.  From that point on, the Spanish media went crazy trying to figure out who the mole that had leaked the information to the newspaper was (Punto Pelota has so far narrowed it down to eight players and said it was NOT Sergio or Iker), while several players denied being the mole and that there were bad relations.

Here is what was reported.

After Mou criticized the players for their performance, Sergio Ramos decided to respond.  Mou had expressed that he felt that the defeat was being blamed entirely on him, that his footballers, especially the Spaniards, weren’t standing firm against the criticism, and that he expected his players to protect him in front of the media.

JM: you all killed me in the mixed zone [Sergio had said after the Barcelona game that they had just followed Mou’s plan in the game].

SR: no, míster, you only read what was published in the press, not everything that we said.

JM: of course, since you Spaniards have been the world champions and your friends in the press protect you all… such as the goalkeeper…

IC (shouting from 30 meters away, where he was training with the other goalkeepers): ¡Míster! Here we say things to each other’s faces, ¿eh?

Mou also felt that the Spanish players were more worried about saving their relationship with Barça’s La Roja players than defending Madrid, which is why he only defends the Portuguese players in his press conferences. Thus, the Spaniards were upset with this difference in treatment.

JM: tomorrow, it will be me having to face the press.

SR: of course, míster, it’s because you don’t let us speak. We can’t give interviews or press conferences. You got mad at Iker for asking forgiveness from Xavi, but what is it that Pepe did yesterday in the video?

And when it came time to talk about Puyol’s goal, Mou blamed Sergio, although it was Pepe who had made mistakes. It turns out that prior to the game, Mou had ordered Sergio to defend Puyol, but during the game, the players decided to exchange their defensive assignments.

JM: where were you during the first goal, Sergio?

SR: marking Piqué.

JM: but you were assigned to mark Puyol.

SR: yes, but Piqué and Puyol were forming a bloque and we decided to change the markings.

JM: are you the coach now?

SR: no, but it depends on the situation in the game, there are times when you have to change the markings. And since you never played, you don’t know that at times these situations occur.  [Ouch!  Of note: Sergio used the formal “usted” with Mou.]

The tension kept increasing and then some of the players, including Xabi Alonso, “who barely opened his mouth during the meeting,” asked Sergio to calm down.  The world of Real Madrid can be a soap opera, no?  If it’s not one thing, it’s another…

We also found out that Pedro Mosquera is returning to Madrid (to Castilla, concretely) on loan from Getafe until June 30.  He’s not getting a lot of minutes with our neighbor, and so the two teams reached an agreement for him to play for his former team until the end of this season.  If you remember, Pedro played for Castilla from 2006 to 2010, and ended as captain.  After making his debut with Madrid and not playing much more after that, he signed for Getafe in the summer of 2010.

Jan. 21 – all set for Athletic.

The team trained again on Friday.  Twenty players were called up for the game, including Tomás Mejías.  Carvalho disappeared from the list following his re-appearance on Wednesday due to the coach’s decision, which was also the reason for Sahin missing out.  Khedira and Di María weren’t called up due to injury.  Sami is still recovering from the sprained right knee and Angelito from his right thigh injury.

At his press conference, Mou (whom some journalists noticed was not wearing a Real Madrid shirt for the first time ever at a press conference) had the following to say.  Regarding Pepe’s video and a question on why he and Pepe say that the action was “involuntary,” Mou responded, “if you want to call Pepe a liar, you have every right to do so and afterward you’ll have to accept the consequences.  If you want to call him a liar, do it and assume the consequences, it’s a problem between Pepe and whoever calls him a liar.”  When the journalists persisted in asking about Pepe, Mou went on to say, “if a player says it wasn’t intentional, why does he have to worry about it?  You all are very annoying with the Pepe issue.”  Mou finished by saying, “I don’t want to say any more but I didn’t see you all having doubts last season about a player who made a racist comment and then afterward said he didn’t.  Everyone believed that what the player said was the truth.  I saw his coach say that he had confidence in him and everyone believed that was the truth, including UEFA, the highest organization believed it.”  He was of course referring to Sergio Busquets.

And in response to a question about how he was, Mou said, “in bad moments, I don’t stay at home crying.  I hide more when things go well.  On Thursday, I went to El Corte Inglés, to the movies, I went shopping with my wife, I picked up the kids from school.  I don’t hide.  Here I am.  The only thing I can say about tomorrow is that I promise that we’ll start the game as leaders and end as leaders.”

It also turns out that the father of Óscar Ribot, José, had passed away the previous day at the age of 72, and Óscar had been with the team when he found out the news.  FP, Mou, several players and coaches, directors and employees of the club went to the funeral home to be with the Ribot family.

As for Castilla, they played to a 2-2 draw with Conquense, leaving two points behind in EADS.  Nacho and Denis were the goalscorers.

Jan. 22 – RM vs. Athletic (!!!).

The big day!!!  The big day!!!  The big day!!!  That team made up of only Basque men is in town!!!*  It’s finally here!!!  This is the only place I can be this vocal about my adoration for a certain Athletic player (!!!), because if I do that at the Bernabéu, I’d get some very confused looks and probably lose some credibility.

*on normal days, having Xabi Alonso on my team is more than enough to satisfy me.

The joy returned to the Bernabéu as the team scored four goals, but the game was much more nerve-wracking and torturous than the final score indicated.  Cris is the fourth player to make 20 consecutive penalties in the history of the Liga, after Kubala, Marañón and Koeman.  He also broke the record for most goals in the primera vuelta, with 23.  And I loved the chants of “Ca-lle-jón, Ca-lle-jón” after Calleti’s goal.  It of course helped that he’s a canterano and that he pointed to the escudo during his celebration.  He deserves it all.

I see these types of moments all the time, but they never get old: Sergio’s fantastic hair, the kiss between Iker and Sergio, this time in the tunnel, plus the Eskimo kiss between Sergio and Agustín Herrerín, and finally hugs between La Roja teammates.

The players observed a moment of silence prior to the game for the death of José Ribot, and the Madrid players also wore black armbands.  Here’s a shot from the moment of silence.  Marcelo Sunshine is so tiny, no?  And he has such big eyes!

Other fun moments: Kaká nuzzling Marcelo, and then resting his head on Cris’ shoulder when the two of them hugged.

Over on the bench, El Chori and Calleti were teasing Pipita, and a clean-shaven Hamit Altintop was also in a good mood.  Plus, José’s reaction to a near goal from Gonzalo Higuaín is precious, no?

I also loved this moment.  Cris had disagreed with the referee’s call, and he made that known through his actions.  Xabi then pushed Cris aside to make him stop complaining, and to get into defensive position for Athletic’s free kick.  Cris didn’t understand the gesture and shot daggers with his eyes at Xabi for several long seconds.

Here’s the “if looks could kill” death stare from Cristiano Ronaldo.

At the conclusion of the game, Iker tossed his shirt into the crowd (he seems to love doing that, no?).  The La Roja players hugged it out, such as Javi (!!!) and Sergio, while the two Ikers did the same.  Sergio and Esteban thanked the fans.  There was some shirt exchanging as well – that’s Mesut and Ibai Gómez there –  and Ander Herrera gave Aitor Karanka (who is of course a former lion) a hug and the two of them chatted briefly.  Javi (!!!) and Iker Muniain also walked into the tunnel arm in arm.

Other notes.   Iker played in his 600th game, and coincidentally enough, it was against Athletic, the team which he made his debut against.  Sergio Ramos received his fifth yellow card, meaning he’ll be sitting out next weekend’s game against Zaragoza.  In the 85th minute of the game, the ultras chanted Mou’s name, and a large part of the stadium responded with whistles.  In all, Mou received whistles four times during the game: when his name was announced by the speaker prior to the game (the players received applause when their names were flashed on the screen), in the 85th minute, again in the 86th minute as the chants continued, and in the 91st minute.

Following the game, Iker refused to say whether what Marca had published was the truth or a lie, because “you have to ask the person who published that.  I don’t have anything against a newspaper that I read, but you have to ask them for the news they published.”  He was more certain when asked about the relationship between the players: “I don’t have a bad relationship with any teammate.  There are days in which I’ll get upset with some and they with me, but there’s nothing more to that.  The relationship between the Spaniards and the Portuguese is very good.”  He also reiterated that “the support for the míster is 100 percent.  If we want to win the Liga, we have to be united, including the fans.”

By the way, that was a very, very scary moment when Iker went down, no?  I can’t remember the last time he needed medical attention on the field, so it was quite frightening, although I have complete confidence that Antonio Adán will do a great job and be a super sub if needed.

Meanwhile, Álvaro Arbeloa also said the atmosphere is very good, “there are no fractures on the team and if I need to, I’ll go to Portugal on vacation.  We’re with Mourinho to the death.  The whistles?  It’s unjust to make him responsible for what happened on Wednesday because if anyone deserves it, it’s us, the players.”  He also said, in response to the news published by Marca, “when that kind of information is published, I would like to see a byline.  If they’re brave enough to publish it, they should be brave enough to sign it as well.  I was there training and I didn’t hear anything of what was published.”

Several other players also refused to confirm or deny the information, saying that was not what they were there for.  According to La Sexta, Mou told his players during a meeting at their hotel that the filtration of news to Marca was not professional at all, that he’s going to find the mole and if he manages to do so before the game, that player won’t play.

Mou said in the press conference that being whistled at is not a problem for him and that it won’t affect him, although it’s the first time that it has happened to him.  He added, “Zidane was whistled here, Ronaldo and Crstiano Ronaldo as well.  Why wouldn’t I be whistled at here?  Zidane responded with football, Ronaldo the same and Cristiano continues to do so.”  He also said in response to the Marca conversation, “I don’t read Marca.  I don’t know what they published, I don’t read it, much less on game days, and I prohibit newspapers from the hotel where we have the concentración.”

The Xabi Alonso pose section.™

In charge and muy jefe.

Even a mundane thing like blinking becomes mesmerizing when Xabi does it!  And I would like to imagine that Javi (!!!) is picking up boss tips from Xabi in the gif below.

And these photos made me laugh, because they made it look like our boys were dancing throughout the game, but unfortunately not coordinated enough to be doing the same dance.  Karim was break dancing, while Xabi was doing the “Hokey pokey” (he’s got his left foot in)…

… Marcelo did his best Saturday Night Fever impression, and Sergio and Mikel San José indulged in a bit of square dancing.  Hilarious, no?

And of course, I have to include some Javi Martínez (!!!) and Athletic moments in this post.  Javi (!!!) was looking adorable (to me, adorable is his natural state, he’s never not adorable) as he warmed up, especially the hug between him and Fernando Llorente.  By the way, what happened to Javi (!!!)’s hand, and is it a coincidence or something else that Iker Muniain is sporting the same type of bandage on the same hand at the same time?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Javi (!!!) provided a wonderful pass to Fer for Athletic’s one goal on the night.  That’s bad news for Iker, but good news for La Roja, because Fernando is on a hot streak, and we need him to go into the Eurocopa like that!  Meanwhile, Álvaro Arbeloa collided with Javi (!!!).  In my daydreams, Javi (!!!) does end up in that position – flat on his back – but unlike Álvaro, I don’t bounce off of him and I end up on top of him instead.  Too much information?  Okay, I’ll be quiet.

By the way, in case you were wondering, I didn’t get myself arrested during the game.