Marcelo and the water bottle: as you can see, Marcelino had a bit of trouble opening the water bottle.  He first tried twisting the cap off, but couldn’t make it past the plastic closure.  Then he tried biting, not once…

…but twice, while Xabi posed with his leg out!  Finally, Cristiano got tired of watching Marcelo struggle with the bottle.  He snatched it, and proceeded to open it with ease, flourishing the plastic closure to show off to Marcelo just how easy it was for him.

Cris then started to hand the bottle back, but decided that he better take the cap off for Marcelo too, in case he had trouble with that.  In the end, Marcelo finally got his water!

These two really are adorable together!  I bet Pepe was upset because he was missing out on all the fun on the bench!

Marcelo speaking English: Marcelo decided to spend some of the time before the game learning English from “Emanu” Adebayor, much to his own amusement, as well as that of Manu himself, and Cristiano.

What in the world is Manu teaching Marcelo?  Very useful phrases!

I wonder what exactly is so “BIG.”  Cristiano’s bottle of hair gel?  Sandro Rosell’s mouth?  Or El Chori?

Right Marcelo, Cristiano is the crazy one.

Marcelo on the bench: while Marcelo gestures, for lack of a better word, Xabi is busy posing and Mesut judging.  He’s thinking Marcelo is crazy, isn’t he?

Another exhibit showing just how hyperactive Marcelo is, and I loved this moment where Mesut and Manu were hitting him on the back in tandem, and Marcelo slaps Ozi’s knee.

Looking ahead: five of our players will serve a one-game suspension should they receive a yellow card in tomorrow’s match against Tottenham: Cristiano, Raúl Albiol, Di María, Sergio Ramos and Carvalho.  Apparently, Mou is thinking of keeping some of them on the bench, in order not to run any risks.  Álvaro Arbeloa will probably be called on to cover Gareth Bale.

The right thing: Tottenham has sent out a communiqué reminding all fans that “foul, abusive, homophobic or racist language will not be tolerated at White Hart Lane and that Stewards will take action against anyone heard using such language.”  They also facilitated a phone number so that fans can report others using this type of language via text message, with the club then focusing on the area of concern via CCTV.  People have been banned for committing these types of offenses.  I think clubs in Spain should sit up and pay attention to this.

Today’s plans: the team will train in a morning session today before traveling to London.  There, José Mourinho and Xabi Alonso (probably chosen because he can also answer questions in English) will speak to the press at 17:20h (16:20h in London).  Hopefully they won’t end up confused like Pep Guardiola, who became so muddled by the questions in Russian and the translations yesterday that he commented, “if we qualify tomorrow, we’ll be in the final.”  He later corrected himself, and in English, although he had originally started out in Spanish.

Luis speaks: speaking of Pep, Luis Figo told Veo7 that “Pep and José (Mourinho) are two very important persons in my life.  Pep is like a brother to me.  He helped me a lot when I got to Barcelona.  He’s the godfather of one of my daughters.  There are no colors in friendship.  José was the reason why I played one more year in Italy.  How he appears in the press is nothing like how he really is as a person.”

Raúl and Sergio: go here to read an interview with Raúl Albiol that I translated for the other blog, because it’s more about the national team, and here if you’re interested in the news that Sergio Ramos and Lara Álvarez have ended their never-proved relationship.  The article says Lara dumped Sergio because he was too possessive and apparently asked her to quit her job.

Again? Another game on Saturday at 18h!  This time around, it’s Valencia on April 23 (roses and books?), for jornada 33 of the Liga.

Yesterday’s tweets: are you sitting down?  Because yesterday Sergio tweeted a photo of himself and a teammate that did not, I repeat, DID NOT include them posing with their thumbs up in the air.  Instead, we get this pose.  Like Álvaro, they both look fantastic in aviators.  And Mesut must really like wearing silly hats, no?

Meanwhile, Álvaro tweeted that he was stuffing his face while waiting for his car to be inspected, that he had brought “merchandise as bribes” if needed, and also told us that unfortunately, we won’t be seeing the fourth musketeer on twitter anytime soon.

As for Xabi, he tweeted what I believe was supposed to be the same thing, but they don’t really match up.  In Spanish, he tweeted “watching the Masters at Augusta, playing on this field has to be the greatest thing.  Let’s see when I can learn to play well; it’ll have to be after I retire” but in English, it sounds like he’s already taking lessons, no?