This date – Athletic playing Real Madrid in the Bernabéu – has been one of the highlights of my season during the past few seasons, and I always had the date circled on my calendar with a couple of exclamation marks next to it (three, to be exact). However, my enthusiasm for this date dwindled after the events during this past Aug. 28-29, and so with all the energy I saved from not screaming and not jumping over security barriers and eluding security guards at the Bernabéu on Saturday, I prepared a mini ICYMI post. Here it is.
In case you missed it – Real Madrid vs. Athletic [2012-11-17, Liga jornada 12, 5-1].
ONE. Warm up scenes! As you will see, there was a fair amount of winking on Saturday night. I really should go to games earlier to watch the boys warm up.
TWO. Inside the tunnel, we had Xabi posing warming up, and Cristiano giving his teammates special high fives.
THREE. This boy is a bit of a tease, no?
Álvaro had to change his shirt because during the celebration for Karim’s goal, José Callejón was a bit too enthusiastic. Álvaro was hugging Karim when José jumped on him from behind, causing Álvaro’s head to knock into Karim’s, and his lip to start bleeding. He used his shirt to wipe the blood away, and therefore had to change his shirt.
FOUR. Goal moments, from tumbling to sublime goals to celebrations and dedications (Sergio said after the game his goal was for Mesut, as he had promised, and the bird part of the celebration was for friends).
FIVE. Iker’s attempt at colorblocking failed (no big surprise, considering it’s fashion-related). Why didn’t he have matching compression shorts, if all his other accessories were carefully designed to match his jersey? By the way, Iker is currently tied for first place in the competition for the Zamora trophy, with a coefficient of 0.75 (nine goals in 12 games), the same as Málaga’s Willy Caballero.
SIX. I love Sergio and Fernando Llorente being all adorable together before and after the game. Sergio also greeted his newest La Roja teammate, Markel Susaeta, while waiting to walk out onto the field. By the way, the chants against Susaeta from part of the Bernabéu – extremely deplorable. But I did love the applause and support that Fernando received when he was warming up, it reminded me of the ovation that David Silva got. Hopefully it has given FP some ideas.
Fer also visited the Madrid locker room after the game (I would love to see him there not as a visitor, but as part of the team!) and we also got this photo of Iker, Álvaro and Luka after the game. Iker’s scarf is terrible, while the image on Luka’s shirt looks like it could be Fernando!
SEVEN. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™
So, so, so, so, so, so boss.
See? Lots of winking.