Sergio Ramos is irreplaceable

Sergio Ramos, at 35, continues to be irreplaceable at Real Madrid. The team suffers every time its captain is missing and it does so even more when the most demanding matches arrive, those of the Champions League. In Europe, the whites tremble every time he is not here: he has lost eight of the last ten duels in which the Sevillian was not.

Luckily for Madrid, in the 15 years that the defender has been wearing the white jersey he has played 126 Champions League matches (the eighth most in the history of the competition) and only 35 have been lost. But those absences, for two years, become dramatic.

The losing streak began in April 2018. Ramos missed the second leg against Juventus at the Bernabéu. An encounter that seemed decided, because Madrid won in Turin 0-3. However, the Italians came to equalize the tie and only a penalty converted by Cristiano in the final minutes prevented extra time.

Also, the captain has been absent in the last two eliminations. The first, in 2019, was especially painful. He caused the card in the first leg to serve a penalty in the second leg because Madrid beat Ajax 1-2 at home. The result at the Bernabéu, on the other hand, was humiliating: 1-4 for the Dutch with Ramos in his box recording a documentary. That sanction was two games and caused a 0-3 in the Parque de los Príncipes against PSG at the start of the last Champions League.

This same year, against City, his absence from the Etihad certified the white elimination. Madrid had lost in the first leg (1-2) and Ramos was sent off. In the match in England, Madrid was shipwrecked with two resounding failures by Varane.

Ramos was absent on three occasions due to a technical decision: two defeats against CSKA in 2019-20 and a victory that same season against Brujas (1-3). To that triumph must be added that of Inter at San Siro a week ago (0-2). They are the only two victories for Madrid without Ramos in the Champions League in the last ten games after another unexpected setback, this Tuesday in Kiev against Shakhtar … A balance of eight defeats and two victories in ten games that reinforce his irreplaceable condition.