In case you missed it – Levante vs. Real Madrid [2012-11-11, Liga jornada 11, 1-2].
I had a bit of free time yesterday, so here is a little ICYMI post. This game had a bit of everything: lots of rain, a scary amount of blood and perhaps even a couple of tears from me when I saw MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín score the game winner!
ONE. It had rained continuously throughout the day, including when the team was warming up. Here, we can see how wet Iker and his gloves got while warming up. Also notable was Iker shedding his shorts (they just fall off of him, really. Like they always should) and throwing them into the crowd as he headed towards the tunnel.
More scenes of the rain falling during the warm up, and our very wet players. I hope no one catches a cold! The rain completely flattened the hair of José Callejón and Mesut Özil, giving them a different look (or in Mesut’s case, how he used to look). Meanwhile, Xabi tried to boss the rain around.
TWO. The boys seemed to have dried off a little prior to the game, but once they came out, it was time to get wet once again.
Here’s a shot of the”piscina” (swimming pool), where the “water polo” match, as Mesut put it, took place. I adore his sense of humor!
The one good thing about the rain was how clingy it made the kits. Here’s Álvaro Arbeloa, with his nearly transparent (but not enough) shirt and shorts.
THREE. Several minutes into the game, Cristiano Ronaldo received an elbow from that thug David Navarro, which resulted in a deep gash above his left eye. The amount of blood was horrifying! He had to leave the game for several minutes to receive treatment, and he also had to change his shirt because he got blood all over it. While he was doing that, some girls sitting in the front row called out “¡guapo, guapo!” Jajaja! I would totally have done the same. It’s nice to see Cris receiving some love instead of hatred. He didn’t play the second half as he was dizzy and suffered from a loss of vision first in his left eye, then in both eyes. Cris was subsequently removed from Portugal’s list for its upcoming friendly against Gabon. Recover quickly Cris!
Thank you rain!
FOUR. Despite the vision problems, Cris still managed to score the team’s first goal! That just shows how magnificent he is.
The game winner was scored by MFC Álvaro Borja Morata Martín, who took advantage of the very few minutes that José Mourinho has been giving him to contribute! He ran over to celebrate the goal with Nacho (though Antonio Adán sort of shoved Nacho out of the way so that he could hug ABMM first), as he revealed after the game that he had been sitting next to Nacho on the bench and Nacho told him he was going to score. Later on, he said the goal was dedicated to a friend of his, who had just been diagnosed with a tumor and is awaiting an operation. My favorite headline from this game was “Cristianos y Moratas,” which is a play on this.
I also loved the deluge of congratulatory messages on twitter from current and former Madrid youth players, such as this one.
FIVE. Speaking of canteranos, José Callejón has “Hermano TQ” (I love you brother) on his boots (at least that’s what it looks like to me)! Adorable and so sweet! He also got a visit from Juanmi on Monday! Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is who, but it’s quite obvious in that photo.
SIX. Sergio made one fan very happy after the game when he gave her his shirt, and delighted thousands of madridistas in the mixed zone when he said, “if he [Sergio Ballesteros] doesn’t like this sport, if he likes boxing or whatever other one, he should change sports, it’s not my problem, okay?” Muy bien Sergio Ramos!
That was because there had been some sort of altercation in the area around the locker rooms after the game (you can listen to the sounds of it here, as heard from the mixed zone), and the police were even sent in. Security employees from both teams were written up in the game act by the referee, and both sides exchanged accusations of what the other team’s players had (allegedly) done. Real Madrid later sent out an official communique stressing that the behavior of all its players is exemplary, and Levante followed suit.
(DOUBLE O) SEVEN. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™
I nominate Xabi Alonso to be the next James Bond.
I couldn’t love Xabi more, but look at the side eye he gave to Ballesteros as he walked past him in the mixed zone! That’s why he is el más jefe.
