As stated in the previous post, Kaká, Pepe and Marcelo were especially cariñosos with Cris, although that’s really nothing new, no?  Álvaro Arbeloa also came over to give Cris a congratulatory handshake, which Marcelo then proceeded to imitate with hilarious results.  That little exchange ended in an adorable hug.

Ozi then came up to Cris to fist bump him, while Xabi stayed classy and limited himself to conversation.

Question: does Carvalho ever feel left out, or is he too mature for this group?  The Portuguese speakers were in their own little world during part of the training session, and made so much noise that Granero, Canales, Adán, then Albiol and finally Mejías turned around to stare.

Meanwhile, Mou provided another great line:  “Albiol, are you still asleep?”

Two more moments from the session – Marcelo practicing karate kicks, and the best moment:  Pepe and Marcelo trying to scare Ozi and Sami.  Khedira doesn’t look like he scares easily, but Mesut does have that appearance.

The concentración brought some bad news, in the continued presence of Iker’s purse.  Tomy is eight years younger but looks eight times better.  Meanwhile, Sergio C. looks too young to even be part of this group, and did Álvaro even change out of his practice outfit?

It appears that Iker has finally broken Mou down of sorts, because the concentración has been starting at 22h the last few times.

We also found out what Xabi did during the downtime at the hotel – maybe he didn’t bring a book this time around?

And a couple more soundbites from José Mourinho’s press conference:

In football, what is mathematically possible is possible.

I’m impressed that after 20 minutes, it’s the first time that we speak about Real Sociedad.  I’m impressed with that, because the reason why we’re here is to speak about Real Sociedad, and in the last minute Real Sociedad comes into the picture.

His papá will always defend him, that other one… (makes gesture).

For my part, I can say in this moment that I’m content.  I’m going to try and fulfill my four years of contract with Real Madrid, which means that I’m content and that the club is content as well.

Conclusion:  just another day at the circus that is Real Madrid.

P.S.  Interesting fact of the day: at this point of the season – just about more than halfway through – Cristiano Ronaldo has already played more minutes (2,976) than he had all of last season (2,915).  Today’s game against the team of Xabi Alonso’s heart will be his 35th game of the season (22 Liga, six Champions, seven Copa), which is the same amount as he played all last year!  The only game of this season in which Cris didn’t suit up was the second leg Copa del Rey round of 16 game against Levante, as Madrid had practically already gone through.

P.P.S. – If you want to look like Mou during games, here is your chance.