It was all about José Mourinho yesterday, in the Copa del Rey round of 32 vuelta game between Madrid and Murcia.  So, let’s start off with…

One. The Mou corner.

TSO got himself expelled at the end of the first half after receiving two warnings: the first for complaining about a decision, and the second for telling the referee, José Luis Paradas Romero, “vete a la mierda.”

Paradas Romero wrote in the match report that he gave Mou two warnings: “in minute 37, the coach José Mário Dos Santos Félix Mourinho was cautioned for the following reason: he raised his arms, protesting a decision I had made.”  Then came “in minute 37, the coach José Mário Dos Santos Félix Mourinho was expelled for the following reason: after he was warned, he came towards me and told me, “fuck off.”  Go Mou!!!

After Mou was expelled, he headed to the stands (but not before making some faces to show his displeasure) and sat down on some stairs.

Upon seeing the situation, Miguel Gil Moreno, socio number 7,171, which he’s been since 1970, told Mou, “Señor Mourinho, don’t sit on the ground!  This seat is mine, take it!”  He told Marca, “I usually go up in the stands to sit with some friends who have their seats higher up, but when I saw the coach sit down on the ground, I went down to ask him to sit in my seat.  The security guards told me to go back, but I told them no, that they had to ask Mourinho to sit in my seat.  And in the end, he sat down.”

And next to Mou was Pablo Bernal, a 21-year-old student.  He said, “he didn’t say anything to me, he was concentrating very hard on the game.  He looked quite calm, and didn’t seem to be too angry that he had been expelled.  I didn’t say anything to him, but I took some photos and recorded some videos…  My friends started sending me texts.  One of them asked me to slap Mou on the back of the neck.”

Of course, Pablo wasn’t the only one taking pictures of Mou.  Lots of fans did.  I love that!!!

And they all saw how Mou continued coaching from his seat, including continuing to show his displeasure, giving out instructions and telling Cristiano to intensify his warm-up.

He looked like he was enjoying himself from this different vantage point.  And right after Xabi’s goal, Mou decided he had had enough and headed to the locker room.

In the second half, Julio Cendel, the head of security for the team, had to sit down next to Mou to protect him.

It looks like Mou will miss the next game against Sporting de Gijón as a punishment for his expulsion.  Aitor Karanka will take charge of the game.  I wonder if Mou will be giving him instructions from the stands, like he did last night?

After the game, Mou at first refused to talk about his expulsion.  Then he relented (I guess he really must have been upset) and said: “It was a very easy game to referee.  I’m not a good referee.  I don’t do well when I have to referee in the training sessions, but this game was easy.”

Two. Of course, Mou wasn’t the only one who got himself kicked out.  Álvaro Arbeloa did too.  But before he left, he managed to give us a glimpse of his stomach.  It also looks like Álvaro is a fan of the Adidas tight shirts!  Two more reasons to love him!

Three. At the press conference, Mou also said he didn’t like how Sergio Canales played.  Meanwhile, Sergio’s father Gelo Canales told COPE that Sergio “lacks confidence and is afraid to do things.”  ¡Pobrecito!

Four. What a way to start the game, no?

Before most of the fans had settled into their seats, Esteban Granero had opened the scoring with a fabulous goal.  He of course celebrated in his patented El Pirata style.

It was a game for the Spaniards, so it’s fitting that Spaniards scored the opening and closing goals!

Meanwhile, both Benzema and Xabi got their heads rubbed when the team celebrated their goals.

After the game, Benzema’s teammates praised him.  Di María: “Karim is a great player who has a lot of talent.  We’re all with him.”  And Pedro León: “he has the support of the entire team.  Karim hadn’t been doing well lately, but he’s now doing things very well.  We’re all very happy with his goal.”  Benzema himself revealed that Mou had congratulated him and told him he had done well.

Meanwhile, Cristiano had to join in the goalscoring party.  His celebrations were quite customary.  He did the hand gesture, and then sucked his thumb.  Since he did both of these, I’m going to take it to mean that the hand gesture is for Kaká, and the thumb sucking is for his son (unless he’s telling us that he has another kid on the way???).

And that goal from Cristiano was number 200 in his career (five with Sporting de Lisboa, 118 with Manchester, 29 with the Portuguese national team and 48 with Madrid).

Five. It must be an Argentine thing.

Six. Fun postgame moments.

Juan Góngora seems to be everyone’s best friend!

Seven. Iker, during two moments of frustration.  In the first one, I think he’s yelling “Pedro” (it’s not as good as Guti, though).

Eight. Front and back.™

Álvaro Arbeloa.

Sergio Ramos.

Xabi Alonso.  Technically, it’s his side, but how jealous are we all of Chando?

Nine. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™

Ten. If Pedro’s a lion with that name, hair and attitude, then what is Sergio? I’ll leave it up to you all to decide.  Best answer wins a unamadridista seal of approval, and you know how much those are coveted!!!

Eleven. Other game notes: Álex and Jesús were the ones removed from the final list for the game, so they watched it from the stands.  And Madrid opted to use the Champions League ball for this game, which Murcia protested.

Twelve. Looking ahead: there was a training session today for all those who didn’t play in this game, plus Cristiano.  Cristiano stayed in the gym, along with Sergio Canales, who showed up voluntarily.  Meanwhile, Esteban Granero and Marcelo showed up just to hang out.  Cute!