all set for Espanyol!

I haven’t had time to make separate posts for games, so for the time being they’ve been folded into the “all set for” posts, sorry about that! Anyway, Madrid takes on Espanyol tonight (22h).

MFC ABMM’s hair is growing back!

all set for Málaga!

Remember the good old days when Real Madrid was a football club and not a soap opera with daily episodes?  I miss those days too, when we could concentrate on football.

This is all the drama I can take right now: Cris arriving late for the concentración and speeding down the ramp, causing Ricardo Carvalho’s paternal instincts to kick in.  He was probably thinking, just when we got Marcelo and Karim Benzema off of the streets…

all set for Valladolid!

The action shifts back to La Liga tonight, when Madrid takes on Valladolid (20h) at the Bernabéu.  Before I turn my attention to the Liga, one more thing from the Champions League.  Reader Afrah asked me to make this gif comparing Sergio Ramos with Juanito, and so here it is.  It looks great next to the one of Cristiano and Raúl, no?  Two legends and two current players, who are also already on their way to becoming legends with this club.

en lo bueno y en lo malo…

… siempre Real Madrid.

Well, I did get my wish of once Juanitos, but I guess we could have used once Santillanas as well.  Despite the result, I am extremely proud of my team for all the heart, courage and fight they showed out there.  We didn’t make it easy for Borussia Dortmund, we made them feel that 90 minutes in the Bernabéu are indeed molto longo, and we went down with a fight.

(Photo taken by Marcus Slaughter, who also just posted this, which I am kind of coveting.)

Even though it may not seem like it, there were good things that came from this game.

the smiles (and joking around) are back!

… and I’m happy to see them!

Zidane, Figo, RC & Ronnie at FourFourTwo

I hardly ever read football news in English, but when I saw the cover of the June issue of FourFourTwo, my interest was piqued.  It was piqued despite the fact that I detest the label “galácticos” (though I liked the players on an individual basis) and disagreed with many of the decisions made during that era, being a staunch supporter of many of the players considered to be part of the “clase media,” as Santi Solari put it; of Vicente del Bosque; and of results rather than glamour.  Anyway, the magazine got together Zizou, Figo, Ronnie and “Bobby Carlos” (who calls him that?) and had them reminisce about that era, as well as recreate the cover they shot back in 2003.  For the most part, they look the same!

¡SÍ SE PUEDE!

Karim!  Sergio!

Edit: well, the wait for La Décima has been extended for one more year, but I’m proud of my team for the fight they showed during the game (okay, mostly at the end) and the class they showed after it.  Hala Madrid.

I believe.

I really do.  And I will be cheering my team on tonight.  ¡Hala Madrid!