Sergio Ramos lifted the Champions League trophy for the third consecutive year as captain of Real Madrid. He now stands alongside only Franz Beckenbauer as club captains who have achieved this feat. While the stature of his achievement is undeniable, many fans supporting Liverpool took issue with the manner in which it was won. Many felt that his collision with Mohamed Salah, leading to the Egyptian’s injury, was a deliberate attempt to remove him from the match. Ramos had angered a nation too. With the news that Salah could miss the World Cup due to injury, Ramos trended on Twitter in Egypt as fans tweeted their anger.
For his part, after the celebrations and trophy-lifting, Ramos tweeted a get well soon message to Salah, about whom the Egyptian FA have tweeted expressing optimism about a World Cup recovery:
Ramos has also been criticised for a perceived dive after Sadio Mané made contact with his neck, for which he was awarded a free-kick while Liverpool were on the break.
Critics also pointed to his poor discipline record of 24 red cards and his previous interventions in finals. Many were reminded of the 2016 final against Atletico in which he stopped a three on one with what could be described as a professional foul.
Regardless of all this, Ramos now holds four Champions League titles, to go along with myriad domestic honours and over 150 caps for Spain. The fans will debate for years whether Ramos should’ve been disciplined in major turning points, but somehow he always skirts the line and gets away with playing so rough. His ability to influence a game is not confined to his role as a defensive Machiavellian – in injury time no-one in the world rises higher to meet a cross or is more guaranteed to bury it home.
Ramos is near-unparalleled at delivering in key moments for his club. Whether he plays in the spirit of the game or not is subjective, and will split opinion – if not by fanbases – along the lines of what you see as the point of playing football. Beautiful play and honourable intentions, or winning at all costs. Ramos’ Real Madrid have now won three consecutive titles playing the latter, (notwithstanding some Bale brilliance), and Ramos has been crucial to that success.
At 32-years-old, Ramos may not have his greatest years ahead of him, but there’s no reason he won’t continue to be influential at Madrid. Any team in the world would want what Ramos brings to a side in defence and in his uncompromising pursuit of victory. When he transferred from Sevilla as a 19-year-old the president of the club he departed famously said: “No defender in the world is worth all that money.”
Ramos has proved him so very wrong with a glittering career, and it is with this same hindsight that we will see appreciation of his honours eclipse complaints about his style, no matter how abrasive it has been to those on the receiving end of it.
