Onward To Zaragoza/Where To Watch/Mou in El Mundo

Thankfully the danger has passed here in NYC. Some big trees down further up my street and some water in the basement, but other than that, we’re fine and didn’t lose power. I checked in with all the local watishistas! and they’re all safe and sound too. The rest of you please let us know how you fared!  We were very, very lucky – so many other areas (especially in NJ/Long Island) were very badly flooded (Are you okay, Kristine and Karo? Please let me know). Thank you for all the kind messages and good wishes.

I logged on to RealMadrid.com to find this rather delicious picture of a sweaty Benz. Mmmm, he looks lovely.  If you’re wondering how/where to watch today’s match, here’s a handy dandy guide.  It’s also the kickoff of our fantasy football league! Whoooo! Best of luck to everyone. I’ll post the leaderboard after it’s updated.

Mou was interviewed in El Mundo today. RealMadrid.com had some highlights (see below) and unamadridista has a more complete translation.

Mourinho: “Friendlies bore me; I want to sink my teeth into the championship”

“Real Madrid has benefitted from the experience of working together and sharing life experiences; the team currently works like it didn’t a year ago”

Realmadrid.com / Translation by Michael J. O’Donnell

Jose Mourinho gave an interview to El Mundo in which he analysed the team’s current situation, how he presently feels, and discussed the world of football in general.

“I wanted the season to start. Friendlies bore me, but they must be played. They are necessary evil. We’ve prepared for this. I’m 48 years old and I feel the youth of maturity rather than the maturity of youth. I hope they don’t take that away from me.”

“The team is better now. We haven’t spent as much on signings as other sides and I think we’ve done a good job and achieved balance. The squad has benefitted from the experience of working together and sharing life experiences. We’ve obviously added something to the mix. The team works like it didn’t a year ago and it’s ready to add to its game principles it laked last season. We’re proving this.”

“I would be criticised, and rightly so, if Adan suddenly had to come on one day without having had any playing time previously. If I’m suddenly forced to play him in the Champions League, people may criticise me for not ever using him before. But it’s not only about that. I’m very interested in Antonio being an option for me. I don’t want to have untouchable players on my team. That’s not my style. Iker is the main choice, but Real Madrid is what really matters. If the day comes in which Casillas isn’t fit to play, the last thing I want is for him to feel he’s untouchable. No player or position is untouchable.”

“Many lies are said about me, but that’s part of the game, of life. Life does this to you. What happens here, as opposed to the other leagues in which I’ve coached, is more like a campaign. A friend of mine who knows nothing of football told me the other day that he is proud to see the campaign there seems to be against me. It’s an uneven fight. He actually said you could build a monument with all the stones people are throwing at me.”

“I think the world has gone through a great change. Very few people hold truth or the lack of hypocrisy as a fundemental principle in their lives. That did exist in the time of our grandparents. It was a principle common to all: rich, poor, fortunate, less fortunate… It’s not that way today. It’s rather the opposite: be a hypocrite, don’t say what you think, don’t be sincere, don’t be honest, survive whatever way you can. Living is not living anymore; it’s knowing how to live. I may be wrong, but I’ll always say what I think, what I feel, never fearing the consequences. People don’t forgive that. I’m never going to change.”

“I feel fine, each day farther from questioning why I came to Real Madrid when I felt so well at Inter, or why I didn’t leave this summer with the many offers I received. I never think about those things because this is a unique experience. There is no question that Real Madrid is the most important club in the world. I feel satisfied and very excited here. I feel I’m in the right place. I wouldn’t change this for anything. Others give the impression of being very Madridistas and turn their back on the club at one moment’s notice I’m not here to give anyone any lessons because I arrived here very recently, but I believe I am qualified to speak of ‘so-called Madridistas’. Regarding our enemies, those who say the club benefits from favouritism, I challenge them: if I ever benefit from favouritism in a match, let it take place again. I don’t want anyone to give us anything, but I don’t want them to deprive us of anything either.”

“I spent five or six hours at the UEFA headquarters when I took the stand in my appeal, and when I left I felt 10 years younger and much stronger. I said everything, absolutely everything, I wanted to say. It meant a lot to me, and to the world of football, that they took one game away from my suspension. I was right and the result was fantastic.”