Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos returned to the Santiago Bernabeu as a player for the first time two weekends ago with Sevilla, and his reception was strangely muted given his status in the Spanish capital. No recognition was forthcoming from the club, while there was little tribute paid by the fans either.
Ramos, 37, left Los Blancos three years ago now on a free after he did not accept Real Madrid’s one-year contract extension, feeling he deserved a longer contract. He spent the next two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain before coming back to La Liga, but did not feature when the French giants were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League due to injury.
It was a shock exit in the European Cup that ultimately set the wheels in motion for his departure, as per Relevo. During their 2019 exit to Ajax, beaten 5-3 on aggregate, but humbled 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, Ramos argued with President Florentino Perez in the dressing after the match.
Ramos had picked up a yellow card in the first leg, which he initially admitted was in order to serve the suspension during the home leg, when they had a lead, although he later denied that was the case. That meant that Ramos was visible in a box for the second leg, watching helplessly on. His documentary was being filmed at the time, and the cameras were switched off at 3-0.
Perez waited for the players in the dressing room after the match, chastising their ’embarassing’ attitude, before a heated argument broke out between Ramos and Perez. Los Blancos had started the season with Julen Lopetegui before appointing Santiago Solari, and Ramos fired back that ‘the planning has been embarassing’ in front of the rest of the staff and the players. Perez’s retort was ‘I’ll get rid of you’.
“Perfect. You pay me and I’ll go. I have given everything and I have broken my balls for this badge, for this club and even for you.”
Relations never recovered to the same level after that, and two seasons later, Ramos was indeed, out of the club after his contract expired. Six days after the Ajax defeat, Solari was sacked. ‘I’m sorry’, he had said to Perez, who responded to the Argentine with ‘I’m the one who’s sorry’, with Zinedine Zidane returning in his place.
