Sergio Ramos scored the opening goal of Sevilla’s Champions League showdown clash with PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday, and it was a significant moment for several reasons. Firstly, it was his first goal for Los Nervionenses since returning to the club back in September.
On top of that, it was also the 10,00th goal that has been scored in the Champions League, and it also took him join-top of the all-time goalscoring charts in the competitions for goals scored by defenders. He drew level on 16 with former Real Madrid teammate Roberto Carlos and ex-Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
10,000 – Sergio Ramos has scored the 10,000th goal in UEFA Champions League history (excl. pre-group games and qualifiers), 31 years and 4 days after the first scored by Club Brugge's Daniel Amokachi in 1992. Milestone. pic.twitter.com/4c9Ub1qxAG
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 29, 2023
16 – Defenders with most goals scored in @ChampionsLeague history:
16 – Roberto Carlos 🇧🇷
16 – Gerard Piqué 🇪🇸
16 – SERGIO RAMOS 🇪🇸
15 – Iván Helguera 🇪🇸
12 – Dani Alves 🇧🇷Titans. 🪖 pic.twitter.com/pQ3eOOWNEN
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 29, 2023
However, it proved to be fateful night for Ramos and Sevilla, as they would blow a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to PSV. That result meant that they were dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage, which is the first time in his career that Ramos has exited the competition at this stage.
The defeat will be a very bitter pill to swallow for Sevilla, given that they looked in control at 2-0 before Lucas Ocampos was shown a second yellow card. They can still qualify for the Europa League knockout stages if they defeat Lens in France in two weeks’ time.