How does this man – Sergio Ramos – not have an endorsement deal with a hair product company? After all, he made the simple act of tossing his head after the game look like a professional hair commercial. Speaking of hair, if Gonzalo Higuaín still had that mullet he sported the first time he stepped onto the field at the Benito Villamarín, the water would have just sunk in instead of dripping off of him, no? And then he wouldn’t have been able to shake his head just like Sergio…
ONE. Prior to the game, we had Sergio looking pensive as he sat in the tunnel…
… while some of his teammates were out on the field, playing stone paper scissors, like the Frenchmen (maybe the loser had to go prank Mou or something) and posing with Betis’ mascot, Palmerín, who is a palm tree (“palmera” in Spanish, hence the name “Palmerín.” This is because the stadium is located on the Avenida de la Palmera in Sevilla, which is of course lined with palm trees). Anyway, Xabi got a photo with Palmerín, and told him, “okay, later on Arbeloa will give you his shirt.” So Xabi has the power to promise away Álvaro’s shirts?
FP also came out to see his team as they were hanging out prior to the game. Only Esteban Granero got up to greet him, and I’m including this gif because the camera is focused on El Pirata’s ass, and that is a lovely sight. Other pre-game moments: the players were black armbands to honor Marquitos (Racing also held a minute of silence for him, prior to their game against Barcelona). The minute of silence before the game was for Betis’ former president, Juan Manuel Mauduit Caller.
And I love the colors (and people) in this shot of the players posing for the team photo!
TWO. I also loved that Palmerín joined with his team in the receiving line. Fun fact: earlier this season, in a game against Mallorca, Palmerín stopped a ball going out of bounds, only he did that before the ball was entirely out of bounds. As a result, the referee of that game wrote him up in the match report, and the Competition Committee subsequently slapped him with a fine of €602, citing Article 125 of the disciplinary code.
Would you like Madrid to have a mascot?
THREE. Speaking of plants, here’s another of those Iker banana shots. He looks delicious!
FOUR. The goals! I loved how Gonzalo Higuaín made a beeline for Ozi after his goal. He didn’t want to hug anyone but Mesut! He also pointed at someone, and we found out later that he had promised to dedicate his goal to Raúl Albiol, so that’s what he did! If that’s the reward for having to listen to Pipita day and night, I’d be willing to do that!
But it was this goal celebration, for the second goal, that was the most amusing (though not necessarily the most respectful of the opponent). As you can see, Cristiano and Marcelo wanted to celebrate by dancing, but they needed Pepe for that. So they brushed aside Xabi’s attempts to celebrate with them – Cris was all like, go over there, we’ll hug you later; poor Xabi – but Marcelo couldn’t wait, and so even before Pepe arrived, he launched into his dance moves. Sergio and Kaká also attempted to join in, while no one else was that bold.
Once that was over, the group celebration could begin, and Xabi came back for that. Meanwhile, Pepe was yelling at the crowd, “throw eggs now!” That was because eggs were thrown at the team bus as they arrived at the stadium, with some of them indeed impacting against the side of the bus.
The celebration for the last goal was notable for Marcelo and Sergio simultaneously trying to jump onto Pepe and Cristiano and bouncing off of each other in the process.
Meanwhile, the entire bench, including players, coaches, equipment managers, fisios, Óscar, etc. celebrated the goal, all except José Mourinho.
FIVE. And this deserves its own point, because what a lovely photo of one of our favorite couples! Squint at the picture and it looks like a heart, because they’re in red and the way their heads are positioned form the top of a heart.
SIX. Another job I didn’t know existed, and would like: the person responsible for rubbing Vicks on the bare chest of players. I much prefer this method to Marcelo’s method of rubbing it onto the front of his shirt, because Karim spent a lot of time with his shirt lifted up. He also inhaled the Vicks to clear his sinuses.
SEVEN. This was unusual: the referee, Iturralde González, had to be “substituted” at the half after he strained his thigh muscle. The fourth official, Gorka Sagués Oscoz, called the rest of the game. I wonder if Mou regretted asking Aitor and Chendo to pester Sagués Oscoz repeatedly during the first half.
EIGHT. Both of the super subs – Esteban and José Callejón – got to play!
Calleti had spent a lot of time warming up on the sidelines, but it took him a long time to get into the game even after Mou beckoned at him and called out “¡José!” And Esteban, well he was muy jefe out there, under the watchful eye of his mentor.
NINE. I wholeheartedly approve of this method of defending, and wish more players would utilize it.
TEN. If we had lost, I wouldn’t have included this, but the pissed off reactions to Betis’ goal were amusing in hindsight, and after Madrid won.
ELEVEN. Once the final whistle blew, Mou hugged everyone, and that included Pepe Mel, Betis’ assistant coaches, the players, other staff… He also shook hands with all of the referees, and of course hugged his own players, such as Sergio.
Our boys were busy hugging each other and the opponents as well. I love good sports and fair play!
TWELVE. Mustard and ketchup.
THIRTEEN. Random pieces of information.
– with this win, Madrid has set a new record, that for consecutive away wins, which is now at 10. Barcelona has won 12 in a row, but over two seasons.
– the record when the team wears the red shirts is 5-0-0. The first game was in the Champions League against Dinamo Zagreb, which Madrid won 1-0. Then came Sevilla (6-2), Valencia (3-2) and Rayo Vallecano (1-0). Apparently, Adidas is planning to make green the third color next season. I can’t see that.
– Cris was able to score against Betis, the last holdout, meaning that he’s kicked in goals against every team in the Liga. He has now has scored 98 goals in 89 games in the Liga, and has found the back of the net for six consecutive games now. Mister Chip and AS tell us that Cris could become the first player in the history of the Liga to score 100 goals in less than 100 games. Our own legend Puskás holds the current record, needing 105 games to reach 100. And Madrid has a 51-1-0 record in the Liga when Cristiano scores. Plus, Cris by himself has scored more goals than 12 of the teams in the first division. He’s on track to score 46 goals this season.
– the trio of Cristiano, Gonzalo and Karim Benzema have combined for 62 goals, which is only 13 less than the entire Barcelona team together, and only six less than what Manchester United, the leaders of the Premier League, have managed.
FOURTEEN. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™
In the mixed zone after the game, Xabi admitted that the ball had hit his hand, but said that it had been involuntary and the interpretation of the referee is what stands. When questioned about Sergio’s possible hand ball, he said he didn’t see it, and added, “I think everyone is talking too much about the referees.” He is of course totally right, and I’m also happy to see that he can admit when he’s in the wrong.
FIFTEEN. The Mou corner.
Yes, that is Mou picking up a scarf, signing it and then throwing it and the pen back to the owner in the middle of the game (well, near the end of the game).
In his post-game statements, José Mourinho complimented Betis by saying that they deserved more: “the game ended 2-3, and that’s unjust because a tie would have been more adequate for a game like this one.” He described Betis as “an example of a team that is not playing for the title, but to provide a spectacle so that people can enjoy themselves.”
In response to Pep Guardiola’s response to his statements from the press conference on Friday, Mou said, “I basically said that I’m an imperfect coach, and everyone knows my imperfections. I never try to hide my defects. Others do have this capacity because they’re smarter than I am.”
As for his two forwards, Karim and Gonzalo, Mou said, “if they want to continue, I don’t want any other forward, I want these two.”
SIXTEEN. The Castilla corner.
We got these exchanges on twitter recently.
They involved the beloved former captain of Castilla, Fran Rico, now with Granada. On Saturday, MFC ABMM tweeted a photo of Juanfran sporting a hairstyle like Ronaldo in the 2002 World Cup, with the caption, “is it Ronaldo?” Fran replied, “jajaja, what a character, don’t change.” Álvaro Borja Morata Martín tweeted back, “there is another one that is much worse that I can’t even show…” Of note: Juanfran sported a shaved head in the game, so like Pepe, he decided not to keep the “fashion” hairstyle.
And the locker room is full of random things, no? First there was that shopping cart, and now we see a fortune cat…
Then on Sunday, Álex tweeted, “on the way to the EADS to watch my team, today I’m not playing since I’m sanctioned again. I’m sure they’ll win!” Fran saw that, and replied, “I also have to watch from the stands, good luck loco.” Álex tweeted back, “Capiiiflan! You’re injured, no?” [Love the nickname!]. Fran responded, “I’m sanctioned (five cards) and you are for two games, no? Well, good luck to all of you, carrot.” Adorable! The exchange ended with Álex tweeting, “take care and thanks and good luck! A hug ‘capii.'”
And Jesús and Fran also found each other on twitter, since neither knew the other was on there!
Anyway, Castilla won 2-0 on Sunday afternoon, beating Rayo Vallecano B. Jesé and MFC ABMM scored the goals for the team, which is a good thing, since Mou was at the game, and these are two of the boys that we know he has his eye on.
I adore this goal celebration! These players are too cute!
