Let us all appreciate the faces of drunk Xabi.

H Q

dioxindarling:

real10madrid:

Real madrid is flying to Cyprus

aww benzema is all by his lonesome

i would sit next to him on the plane

but i would want the window seat

Pre-match gifs, 3.10.12

RM Training: 2.20.12 - Pt. 3 (Pts. 1 / 2)

Arriving in Moscow, 2.19.12

RM: Prepping for Ajax (12.6.11)

Training. In the last workout before leaving for Amsterdam, Mourinho had 31 players at his disposal, including nine canteranos. Two groups trained on different pitches. Casillas, Cristiano, Ronaldo, Pepe, Marceloa, Khedira, Lass, Pacheco, Martínez, Rios, Gónzalez, Plano & Lucas trained on Pitch 3. The rest of the first teamers, Jesé, Mendes, & Mejías worked out on Pitch 2 in a more intense fashion. Carvalho continued recovery of his injured knee. [video - Spanish] 

Call-ups. Mourinho named 19 players in his squad for Wednesday’s match.

Keepers - Adán, Mejías, Pacheco
Defenders - Albiol, Coentrão, Varane, Arbeloa, Mendes
Midfielders - Alonso, Kaká, Di María, Özil, Granero, Altintop, Callejón, Sahin
Forwards - Jesé, Benzema, Higuaín

Presser. Mourinho - The coach did not want to give away his entire lineup for the Ajax match. He only announced three players who would appear: Benzema, Adán & Higuaín. Mourinho also stated that of the three academy players, Pacheco will have to watch from the stands.

When asked about Frank de Boer’s comments on el Clásico, he remarked, “[De Boer] should be worried about tomorrow’s game. I’m worried about tomorrow’s game. If he’s thinking about el Clásico & not tomorrow, maybe that will give us the advantage.”

On his team’s strength: “I make my players stronger with my work, & they make me stronger with theirs. We’ve been together for a year & are better now. This is a natural evolution. A coach who doesn’t make his players better isn’t any good, & the same goes for players who don’t make their coach better.” [videos - English / Spanish]

Adán -  “I’ve been working a long time to be ready so that fans don’t notice Iker is absent when he doesn’t play. I’m ready, & the coach has faith in me. This means I’m doing a good job; that’s why he’s giving me the chance to play.”

Arrival. When the team arrived in Amsterdam, they were greeted by about 100 fans at the airport. The blancos then left for their hotel, Hotel Okura. Wednesday’s game kicks off at 8:45 pm CET / 2:45 pm EST.

[Photo gallery / Where to Watch]

RM: Training Photos - Pt. 2 (12.5.11) [Pt. 1]

RM: In Lyon (11.1.11)

Real Madrid Roundup

Saturday, 10.29.11:

• The win at Anoeta completed seven consecutive undefeated Octobers for Mourinho. His last loss came at the hands of Manchester United while he was with Chelsea in 2004. 

Sunday, 10.30.11:

• The players had the day off.
• Levante’s loss puts Real Madrid back at the top of the league table. [video]

Monday, 10.31.11:

• Injury Reports: Arbeloa & Kaká. Both players received contusions (bruises). Arbeloa injured his left quadriceps, while Kaká hurt the soleus muscle of his right leg.
• Granero returns to training. Carvalho, Arbeloa, & Kaká were inside. The Portuguese defender continued his recovery process, while the latter two trained in the gym. [video]
• Mesut Özil sits down with bwin. He talked about the upcoming match at Lyon, as well as the Ballon d’Or. “Casillas for many years has been the best keeper in the world, & I would give him this award.” “There is a good chance Cristiano Ronaldo will win it, & I hope he does.” [video]
• Gonzalo Higuaín is giving away the shirt he wore in Saturday’s victory. To participate, submit a sentence in Spanish to the club’s Facebook page describing his goal. Rules here. Deadline is November 1 at 24h CET. [video]
• Gonzalo Higuaín at Nike T90 Strike Counter presentation. ”Right now I feel really good. I’m enjoying my football again. It all seems to be coming together.” [videos: English / Spanish]
• Cristiano, Benzema & Higuaín most effective trio in Europe’s top leagues. They have scored 27 goals between league & UCL competitions.
• Today’s photos here.

Tuesday, 11.1.11:

• Final session before leaving for Lyon. 21 players participated, including Castilla’s Mejías. Kaká, Carvalho & Arbeloa continued working indoors.
• Injury Report: Marcelo. The Brazilian defender has muscle fatigue in his left quadriceps.
• 20 players will travel to Lyon. Novelties to the list include Granero & Albiol (returning from injury), as well as Castilla’s Carvajal. Absentees are Arbeloa, Carvalho, Kaká, Marcelo & Sahin. 
• Five Blancos on shortlist for 2011 Ballon d’Or. Benzema, Alonso, Cristiano, Özil, & Casillas were included. Mourinho is a nominee for the Coach of the Year Award. Finalists will be named on December 5 in Paris and the winners on January 9 in Zurich.
• Mourinho & Benzema to meet with the press at 20h CET.
• Today’s photos here.

RM: At Anoeta (10.29.11)

Real Madrid Rundown (10.17.11)

• Injury report: Lass. He finished the Betis game with a hamstring injury. For the past two days, he has been training separately from the group. He was not called up for tomorrow’s game.
• Squad list against Lyon. Mourinho called up 20 players, including Castilla’s Mejías. The only omissions were the injured Lass, Albiol, Sahin & Carvalho.
• Xabi Alonso is indispensable. He & Iker Casillas are the only players to play every minute this season. 11 games, 990 minutes.
• “I am the happiest guy in the world.” 
• Gonzalo Higuaín: The Perfect Strike. Pipita was recently featured in a new Nike campaign for the T90 Boot. You can watch here. While shooting, he also spoke with Germany’s Spox [video, interview].  {Thanks @LaNovena9 for the link.}
• Raphaël Varane speaks to L’Equipe. On Mourinho: “He speaks with Benzema, Lass & me in French. To Özil & Khedira in English. To Kaká, Cristiano & Marcelo in Portugese, & the others in Spanish. He can give you a message in the hallway, before or after training, or during a match. They’re short phrases that help you grow.”
• Casillas & Mourinho speak to the press. Casillas on Real Madrid’s recent history in the Champions League: ”Several years of not being up to scratch in European competition does make you more concerned but last year we made it to the semis and let’s see if we can achieve more this time around.”Mourinho on the striker debate: “My objective is to unite and not divide. What’s in the press is different; it’s a debate about who is good and who is poor. My point of view is different, we win and lose as a team. We have different objectives.” [videos - 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5]
• If Arbeloa is the Twitter King, then Iker Casillas surely must be Facebook royalty. 
• Last training before facing Olympique Lyon. [video; photos]
• RealDiMaría to air Thursday at 22h. Submit questions for the player here.
• Future sporting directors report to class. Iker, Sergio, Raúl, & Álvaro attended their first general manager course at RFEF headquarters today. Sergio was *gasp* last to arrrive. [videos - 1 / 2; photos] 
• Concentración. The team arrived at Mirrasierra Suites already.
• All of today’s photos can be found here.

tfortravis:

2011.09.26 | El Real Madrid, concentrado para el encuentro ante el Ajax

mesutozilthebest:

RM training 25/09/2011

Full-sized.

RM: Concentración Photos (9.23.11)