It was a tale of two halves – in the first, Madrid deserved to lose; they played like they had during the Barça game.  In the second, they showed why they deserved to win.  Mou’s halftime pep talk must have really lit a fire under the players, as they themselves would admit after the game.  His tactical reorganization did wonders too for the team, as it shut down Villarreal completely.  (Mou put in Khedira for Lass, resorted to three centerbacks – Albiol, Carvalho and Sergio Ramos -, while Di María and Marcelo raced up and down the wings and Khedira and Özil supported Xabi.)  All this translated to an important win.

But enough of the tactical stuff, on to the fun stuff!

One. Pregame fun.  If Sergio is hiring anyone to do that for him, I’d offer my services.  I’d even pay him to let me work for him.  And here’s the Iker-Sergio kiss from another angle.  Iker also took the time to fluff up the little hair he has left his hair.

Joan Capdevila, Santi Cazorla and Ángel, all current or former Spanish internationals, got hugs from Iker and Sergio.  Other Spanish internationals on Villarreal:  Diego López (a canterano), Borja Valero (ditto), Carlos Marchena, Bruno, Marcos Senna… making it very difficult for me to dislike Villarreal.

Two. Cristiano stepped it up, scoring another hat trick in this game, although, as he said after the game, “without my teammates I would not be able to score, I have to thank them.”  Meanwhile, Kaká said, “it was a special moment to return to the Bernabéu and score a goal like that.  I want to thank the fans for welcoming me back so warmly after all the problems I’ve had… Cristiano is a great player that surprises everyone with his goals and his style each day.  He’s fundamental to this team and it’s great to play with him.”

Enough talk about your relationship as teammates, and more talk about your relationship as friends!

Here are the goals.  Number one.  Ozi’s hair got messed up in the celebration, but Cris’ had enough gel in it to bounce back immediately.

The second goal came off a Xabi Alonso pose free kick.  That, combined with Cristiano’s stealth and speed (look at his run to the goal!), led to this cute little celebratory hug between the two protagonists.

Thank goodness Cristiano never gives up, no?  But even more amazing than this goal, the third one, was the celebration – the normally calm, laid-back and stoic Xabi Alonso JUMPED IN to celebrate.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.  Look at it – all the guys are hugging, and then suddenly this one guy jumps on top of everyone.  And it’s Xabi Alonso!  Maybe he was subbing for Pepe, since that’s what Pepe usually does.

And it was great to see Kaká score, and I’m sure it did wonders for his self confidence as well.  Was anyone surprised by who gave the assist for the fourth goal?  Have they been holding their own private training sessions?

This picture says it all, no?  What a great (half a) night at the Bernabéu.

Kaká also made this dedication.  I have no idea what it means.

Three. Here are the players’ takes on Mou’s halftime pep talk:

– Cris (in a silly hat, even if it is Dolce&Gabbana – did he get it during the rebajas?):  the míster spoke with us and the message was important.  We reacted and we won.

– Carvalho:  we changed our attitude after the half and we went out to win the game.  When the game wasn’t going well, Mourinho took a risk and played with three in the back.

– Sergio:  the míster got it right when he changed the system of play.

– Kaká:  he showed why he’s the best coach in the world.  He made a change in the way we were playing and motivated us so that we played much better in the second half.

Mou himself said that “I spoke with the players and I told them the result wasn’t the reality and I wanted to change the system.  The game changed because in the second half we played and Villarreal dedicated themselves to defending.”

Four. There’s no doubt who’s the leader out there.

Five. More fun moments.  See, Iker and Cris do get along!

Marcelo is the man of a thousand expressions and gestures.

Six. The Infantil B team was in the stadium, watching the game from right behind the benches.  Perhaps it was their reward for getting to the final of the Alevín tournament?  I’m loving all the teams in the cantera right now, in case you couldn’t tell!

Seven. Front and back.™

The entire team!!!  Yay for walls!  Xabi looks like a soldier.

Raúl Albiol.

Xabi Alonso.  So boss.

Karim Benzema.

Marcelino, the Karate Kid.

Sergio Ramos.  The camera person (it couldn’t have been a man, could it?  Just look at the way the camera drops down to focus on Sergio’s culito) and I were on the same wavelength.

Eight. The man with the perfect profile and the perfect pursed lips.  Just ignore the spitting.

Nine. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™

Now with props!

Even when there is a altercation, Xabi still manages to pose.

I think we can all agree who is in the right.  Whatever was going on, the right definitely wins.

Ten. Quote of the day:  Raúl Albiol, to “El Larguero,” on Cristiano’s hat trick:

We’re tired of signing game balls.  He already has a lot of them.

Cristiano had scored three previous hat tricks this season:  against Depor, Athletic, and Levante (in the Copa, but MFC went home with that ball).

Eleven. The Mou corner.

TSO, during the first half, busily taking notes for his fiery halftime pep talk.

Mou said in his press conference after the game that he didn’t like anything about his team during the first half, while Villarreal was “fantastic, marvelous.  In the second half, the team was brilliant and we won thanks to the courage that the team displayed.”

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Real Madrid game without controversy.  Yesterday’s occurred after the fourth goal, when Mou headed to the area right in front of the Villarreal bench to celebrate.  The rival team thought he was being provocative, and one of their players, Cani, threw an empty water bottle at Mou.  TSO later said that he had gone to celebrate with his son, who was sitting right behind the rival bench – because that’s where his abono is – and did not mean to disrespect anyone.  He swore this on the life of his son, saying that he hoped everyone would believe that he loves his kids and would not take their lives lightly.  Cani was kicked out of the game for “throwing from the bench a plastic bottle with some liquid inside in the direction of the coach of the home team as he celebrated a goal of his team, which didn’t hit anyone,” according to the referee’s match report.

Mou also complained a bit about how “everything I do is always negative” (his exact words were “siempre negativo” which reminds me of Louis van Gaal’s famous “siempre negativo, nunca positivo” during his time at Barcelona – anyone remember that?  My friends and I would always imitate his accent).  Anyway, Mou went on to say, “against Levante I made a change that I had planned for the last three days (Pepe for Carvalho) and I was insulted; do I have to ask permission for everything I do?  Everything I do always has a negative connotation, always.  I can’t do anything.  I swear I went to celebrate the goal with my son.  I told that to Villarreal, and if they don’t believe me, it’s their problem.”

I’m sorry, but Mou should have known better.  This is not the first game of the season and he knows perfectly well where his son sits and how his gestures can be interpreted.

Anyway, the only thing that beat Mou yesterday was his own water bottle.  Look carefully.

Mou also spoke about Kaká’s return, saying, “he played very well… the fourth goal was fantastic.”  As for Cristiano, he said, “Cristiano leaves me speechless.  I can’t even begin to describe his performance.”

Twelve. Other games notes:

– Lass left the game while it was still ongoing – he was spotted in the mixed zone in the 86th minute – which would cost him a fine, but the club informed the press that it wasn’t anything controversial at all, since he was on his way to the VIP palco to watch the game with family and friends.  Take that, Spanish sports press!

– Canales and Pacheco were once again left off the final game list, as had been the case against Levante last week.

– Ochocinco’s take on the game.

Come on Xabi, chime in and inform Ochocinco how great the rodaballo or the besugo is!  I love those as well as merluza, bacalao, basically everything!

Thirteen. And over in Chicago, Gonzalo Higuaín watched the game in his hotel room (the Hotel Allerton, for anyone who is in Chicago and would like to spot a little – and big – pipe) along with his parents and Dr. Díez.  He smiled when he saw his teammates go onto the field wearing shirts that read, “Ánimo Pipa, recupérate pronto” (stay strong, Pipa, recover quickly).

Pipita said, “it made me very emotional, I’m very thankful to all my teammates, and I hope to be with them soon.  Gracias, muchachos.”

Please, not that pose!

Pipita spent the day eating and resting in his room.  He’ll meet with Dr. Fessler today to go over the details of the operation, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

Fourteen. Meanwhile, those players who weren’t called up for the game – all three of them – had their own training session at Valdebebas.  Mateos consists of only legs.

Álvaro also tweeted about the game, saying it was a fantastic one.

Fifteen. Looking ahead:  the players have today off, and will be back tomorrow to begin preparing for Thursday’s Copa del Rey first leg quarterfinal game against Atleti.