The Best (And Worst) Of Sergio Ramos
With the Spanish legend announcing his move to PSG we take a look back at one of the most successful and controversial careers in modern football. From trying to kill Leo Messi several times to international and domestic domination, enjoy the best & worst of Sergio Ramos.
Real Madrid Debut 2005/06
In 2005/06 Sergio Ramos made his Real Madrid debut after being signed for a record 27 million Euros from Sevilla, making him the most expensive Spanish teenager ever at the time. A baby-faced, long-haired 19 year old Sergio Ramos came off the bench for Francisco Pavonin in a 3-2 loss to Celta Vigo. Ramos went on to make 33 appearances for Madrid that season as the side finished second behind Barcelona.
EURO 2008
By 2008 Sergio Ramos was already an International regular for one of the best nations in the world as first choice right-back. This is the tournament Spain began their quest for world domination as Sergio Ramos was an ever-present member of the winning Euro 08 team, starting every match and playing every minute of the tournament.
Spain beat out Germany in the final with Ramos coming up against Lukas Podolski who was one of the players of the tournament scoring 3 goals. Spain kept the impressive front line of Germany quiet, keeping another clean sheet for the tournament as Fernando Torres did the rest.
Fifa World Cup 2010
Two years later Sergio Ramos and Spain were back on the biggest International stage. As a 24 year old, he played every single minute of the World Cup in South Africa as a right-back, keeping 5 clean sheets including the all important final. Ramos was named in the team of the tournament alongside Spanish teammate Carles Puyol as the Spaniards continued to dominate the international stage.
Spain were up against the Netherlands this time with the likes of Van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder. The Spanish defence managed to keep another clean sheet in a big international final as Andreas Iniesta scored that famous goal.
La Liga Titles
In his second season at Madrid, Sergio Ramos made 33 appearances as he won his first title in 2006/07. Ramos scored 5 goals that season, including an all important one in a 3-3 El Clásico draw with Barcelona.
2006/07 was the first of many, with the club going back to back for the first time since the 80s. Ramos was the starting right back that season, making 45 appearances in all competitions with another 5 goals in the league and of course the three red cards.
Sergio Ramos was an integral part of the side which achieved a season dubbed by the spanish press as "La Liga de los Récords" or the ‘league or records’. Real Madrid were breaking records like nobody's business, a record points tally, record goals scored, record wins and a record 32nd league title.
Ramos then went on to captain a further two league titles, in 2016/17 and 19/20. The 16/17 season is considered one of the best in the clubs history when the club achieved its first ever La Liga & Champions League double, picking up 4 trophies, adding the Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.
Cards
With all the success Sergio Ramos has brought to Madrid, he also brought with him one of the worst disciplinary records you’ll ever see. Ramos holds the record for most carded player in La Liga with 191 cards, 171 yellow and 20 red, also making him the most sent off player in La Liga history. The most famous of which is probably when he tried to break Leo Messi’s leg in a 5-0 loss to Barcelona in 2010, he also managed to shove Spanish team mates Puyol and Xavi in the face on his way off.
Sergio Ramos also holds the record for most cards in Champions league history with 40 yellow and 4 red, giving him an average of 11 cards per Champions League trophy.
To top it all off Ramos also holds the record for being the most carded player in the history of the Spanish national team, with 24 yellow cards. Imagine this guy in Sunday league.
EURO 2012
In 2012 Spain were looking to make it 3 major tournaments in a row, with Ramos making the shift to central defence partnering Barcelona rival Gerard Piqué. Sergio Ramos again played every single match of the tournament, keeping 5 clean sheets and being named in the team of the tournament again.
Going into the final Spain were up against Italy with an inform Mario Balotelli coming off a match winning brace against Germany in the Semi-Final. Another international final, another clean sheet for Sergio and his boys, thrashing the Italians 4-0.
Champions League Heroics
Probably the single biggest moment of Ramos’ career occurred in the 93rd minute of the 2014 Champions League Final. Cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid were 2 minutes away from Champions league glory winning 1-0. Real Madrid won a corner in the dying minutes which Luka Modric whipped in, Ramos met the corner with a brilliant finish sending the match into extra time. Real Madrid went on to score another 3 goals in extra-time, completing the famous La Decima in one of the most dramatic champions league finals in history.
After a one year absence from the competitions final, Sergio Ramos went on to lead the club to a historic 3 champions League trophies in a row from 2016 - 2018. In 2016 Real faced off against Atletico again in the final and again Ramos was the hero, opening the scoring, putting away his penalty in the shoot out and winning man of the match.
In 2017 Ramos became the first ever player in the champions league era to captain his side to back to back Champions league titles as his side smashed Juventus 4-1.
The next year, Real Madrid were back in the Final against an impressive Liverpool outfit. Ramos played the pantomime villain this year, injuring Liverpool Star Mo Salah, pulling him down and dislocating his elbow. Sergio Ramos also elbowed Liverpool keeper Karius in the head, causing a concussion resulting in numerous mistakes from the keeper across the match. Real Madrid went on to win their third Champions League in a row in a match that managed to completely sum up the Real Madrid legends career.
Football Boots
Usually signature boots are reserved for strikers and attackers, you would have to be a pretty special defender for one of the big brands to drop a signature boot for you and Sergio Ramos is just that. By 2017 Ramos had won everything there is to win, scored numerous important goals, and been sent off a billion times so Nike rewarded him with his very own Tiempo 7 'Corazón y Sangre' or 'Heart & Blood’.
The Spanish champion joins Totti, Pirlo and Ronaldinho in getting his very own version of the Nike Tiempo. Ramos was in charge of the design process and added several personal touches throughout the boot. The white colourway comes from his time at Real Madrid and his love for white Andalusian horses.
The boot also acknowledged his love for his family with ‘familia’ written on the side of each shoe and the tongue of the boot reading “Rn'R,” for Ramos and his wife Rubio. The names of the couple's two sons also appear on the boot, Sergio Jr. and Marco. Finally on the right boot appears ‘90+’ acknowledging Ramos’ love for a late goal.
Will Ramos be able to replicate his Real Madrid success at PSG? Can he finally bring the Champions League to the French capital? Let us know your thoughts on the move below.
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