Well, a brilliant (perfect?) performance by Xabi Alonso – who did everything – and a very good one by Karim Benzema – for inventing a goal that Sevilla’s defense proved to be helpless against – helped us to win the battle come away with a win last night.

ONE. Random moments, part I.

Cristiano exhales, and Marcelo… does something.  I have no idea what’s going on there, but it’s vintage Marcelino, no?

And a style note – it was strange to see Madrid wear their road uniforms, but with white socks.  I guess that’s because Sevilla chose to wear black socks with their white kits.

TWO. Our boys looking pretty as they warmed up for the game.

THREE. Karim’s golazo was a work of art, and I’m sure it has done wonders for his self-esteem as well.  He celebrated his goal by making a beeline for the bench to celebrate with all his teammates.  He also celebrated with José Mourinho (for his birthday, and for motivating him as well, I suppose), giving him a wink, a high-five and a slap on the ass (that’s a first, no?) and receiving three pats on the back from his coach in return.

It was wonderful to see all Karim’s teammates mob him – the joy was palpable – because they knew how important this was for him, and how much he has suffered.

One word comes to mind:  piña.

FOUR. As great as the goal was, this game will probably be remembered more for two other incidents.  The first was the “gol fantasma” (ghost goal).  As the first half wound to an end, Luis Fabiano beat Iker Casillas, and took a shot at the empty goal.  Raúl Albiol launched himself at the ball to prevent it from going in, and he managed to deflect it a bit, but it still stayed on the path towards the goal.  Raúl, who had ended up inside the goal, then turned, saw the ball was going over the line, and kicked it out.  The referee immediately looked at the line judge, who signaled a corner.  And so the score remained 0-1.  Television images didn’t really show anything.  According to the rules, the entire circumference of the ball has to advance past the entire line, and in this case, the ruling was that part of the ball was still touching the line.

After the game Raúl Albiol told Cope and SER that he sincerely believed the ball had not gone in, that he had seen the ball on the line and kicked it out.  We also find out that Mou congratulated him for this.

His teammates also congratulated him, and Eze Garay, warming up on the sideline, clapped and cheered as well.

Lost in all the debate over whether it was a goal or not was the fact that Raúl’s legs looked fantastic as he kicked the ball, no?

Cue people whining about how Madrid should have nothing to whine about, because the referees actually favor them.

FIVE. And after the second half finished, Iker Casillas was hit on the head with a plastic bottle launched from the crowd.  A first bottle had been thrown, but missed him.  As he bent down to pick it up, the second hit him on the back of the head.  Iker fell to the ground, while Sevilla’s ball boys hustled up to him not to check on him, but to remove the evidence before the officiating team arrived, in order to prevent it from being written up in the game report.  That just sums up Sevilla’s entire attitude in the days prior to this game, no?

Luckily, their efforts were useless, because the incident was written up as follows: “once the game had ended, a small bottle of water was thrown from one of the end zones where fans of the home team were seated.  It impacted the head of the Real Madrid Club de Fútbol player who wears the number 1, D. Iker Casillas Fernández, who was on the field at that moment.  The player was not injured as a result of the incident, as his team’s delegate informed us moments later in the referees’ locker room.”

I liked how Kanouté helped Iker to rub his head.  Meanwhile, Aitor Karanka had some choice words for the two ball boys who had run off with the evidence.  Go Aitor!

Iker left the field still rubbing his head (the lucky team doctor who went to check on him also got to do that), and tried to minimize the effects on the incident, telling Canal+, “I believe the fans in Spain are great, but there are always some stupid vandals that come and ruin the experience for the rest.”

And then José María del Nido said his first sensible thing all week, criticizing the incident and saying the club will find the guilty party.

SIX. Random moments, part II.

Xabi expresses disbelief – while still managing to ooze class – and Álvaro gets cheeky, both figuratively and literally.

SEVEN. Another great job:  to be the linesman in charge of verifying whether the players are correctly dressed to enter the game.  Remember when Sergio went through the check?

EIGHT. I loved what Cristiano said after the game: “Sevilla can continue like this, with that face painting, because it motivates us a lot.”  I’m sure that was the effect those brilliant minds at Sevilla – now richer with their promised bonus – were going for, no?

Meanwhile, Albiol said he was happy for the win, that the team would welcome Emmanuel Adebayor with open arms and that Karim’s goal was a “golazo” and that he’s a fantastic forward.

Cris just looks even sillier with his cap on backwards and those giant headphones around his neck.  It looks like Albiol got hit on the head during the game, no?  And Sergio was the only one not wearing the team tracksuit after the game.  I’m assume it’s because he was going to stay in Sevilla to see his family and/or go out to eat with Jesús Navas, and would not return to Madrid until today.

NINE. Random moments – part III (duos).

Cris and Karim share a moment before the start of the second half, taking care to cover their mouths to prevent certain programs from reading their lips, and Álvaro and Xabi defend by dancing in unison.

TEN. Front and back.™

Cristiano Ronaldo.

El capitán.

Ozi.

Sergio Ramos.  YES.

Xabi Alonso.

ELEVEN. Random moments – part IV.

The action’s on the left, according to Iker, and Sergio does his best imitation of a tumbleweed.  I love him, but acting’s not his strong suit.

TWELVE. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™

No extra words needed.

THIRTEEN. Iker spent a lot of time during this game with his arms outstretched.  I love how Álvaro just kind of ignores Iker and walks away.

FOURTEEN. The Mou Karanka coaches’ corner.

I guess Aitor Karanka had to be responsible for the game from preparation to postgame, because it was once again he who spoke with the press after the game instead of Mou, although Mou was very active during the game, spending almost the entire game on foot.

Aitor was cautious, saying that while the result was good, it is not by any means definitive.  He also congratulated Benzema, and said it was “significant that when he scored, he went to celebrate with the míster.  We’ve said a thousand times that he’s an important player on this team.”

FIFTEEN. Other notes:  I don’t like it when Iker pretends to fall from the slightest bit of contact, as he did in the 65th minute of the game.  And I can’t believe the second goal wasn’t scored at the 79th minute mark!  Why did Cristiano choose to imitate a statue at that very moment???

Sevilla did their best to make the Sánchez Pizjuán an infierno, starting with the boos during the announcement of the starting line-up and coach, replaying that controversial video before the game, the smoke bombs and firecrackers, the shouts of “step on him” every time Cristiano was fouled.  This was why the Madrid bench was surrounded by five security guards.  The only dissent came when some fans started singing a song against Sergio Ramos.

But who got the last laugh?

SIXTEEN. Looking ahead, sponsored by Sergio Ramos greeting former Madrid teammate Álvaro Negredo, but denying former Spain teammate Fernando Navarro.

The players have today off, except for Emmanuel Adebayor, who trained this morning with Castilla, along with Esteban Granero and Pedro León.  Adebayor was also presented this afternoon in the press room of the Bernabéu and gave a press conference afterward.