Manchester, without Sergio Ramos … but with the captain

The authority and influence of a player in a team are calculated with his contribution on the field and with the damage caused by their absences. And in this sense, there is no loss that Real Madrid accuses more in Europe than that of Sergio Ramos. Zidane's men have next Friday the most difficult yet: tracing the 1-2 of the first leg of the round of 16 to Manchester City and doing it without its spiritual leader, sent off at the Bernabéu for a takedown on Gabriel Jesus.

The past claims that without him there is a collapse: Madrid have only won one of the last seven games they have played in Champions League qualifiers without the captain. And it was five years ago, 0-2 against Schalke on February 4, 2015. The balance is devastating: five losses, a draw and only one victory since his loss on March 5, 2008 against Roma …That night at the Bernabéu the breakdowns began. Ramos did not play by penalty and that Madrid of Schuster, who came with a 2-1 against, ended up naked and out of the Champions after falling 1-2. Three years later, he ran out of Clásico back from the Champions League semifinals, also by sanction, and the whites, who had to overcome a 0-2, only managed to tie one and were eliminated.

For the next six seasons, the captain's absences continued to complicate the team's life even though the injuries were not fatal: in 2013 he was defeated 3-2 against Galatasaray, but the first-place cushion (3-0) saved Madrid; in 2015, The Whites took the eighths without a Ramos who was injured (victory 0-2 in the first leg and defeat 3-4 in the return) and in 2018 they lost 1-3 at the Bernabéu against Juve although they went to the semifinals in agony thanks to 0-3 Turin. But, without a doubt, the one that hurt Madrid the most in recent times was that of March 5, 2019, against Ajax, on the second leg. With a 1-2 in Amsterdam, Ramos forced the yellow card and days later he saw in his private box at the Bernabéu, while filming his documentary for Amazon, how his team collapsed, was overwhelmed (1-4) and said goodbye to his third title in seven days … Ten Haag, ajacied technician, warned him in the preview: “Without Ramos, Madrid is a sangria …”.

And he is not without reason: In the last seven European qualifying matches that Madrid played without Ramos, he conceded up to 17 goals (2.4 per game) … To turn away from statistics and pay the comeback against a City that is a machine gun (102 goals in the Premier), Varane will have Militao as a partner behind, who has a full tank of confidence after his good League final. “If Ramos is not there, it is me,” he said Sunday in an interview with AS. Ramos will not be on the field, but the plan is that it does form part of the expedition of Real Madrid to Manchester. The captain wants to feed that spirit from a comeback he believes in. Not surprisingly, he took advantage of the week that Zidane gave the squad on vacation after conquering the League to stay in Madrid (he was a father for the fourth time) and pound himself in the gym to stay in full physical shape in case City is eliminated. And if Madrid does it, the captain will be there again.