Success goes against Ramos

Time plays against Sergio Ramos. There are only 76 days left until his contract with Real Madrid ends (next June 30) and he remains unrenewed. Since Florentino and the captain met face to face in Elche on December 30, nothing has changed. The club made him an offer that did not seduce the Sevillian and neither of the two thoughts has changed since that meeting. Madrid had it very clear then and continues to have it now: Those are the conditions and he is not going to move from his position, because in the current economic situation the priority is to balance the accounts.

At that time, each day that passed he played for Ramos, because each absence of his made the team tremble. The statistics supported its importance: In December 2020, Madrid had eight defeats in the last ten games that Ramos had missed in the Champions League. The white team was weak without him, especially in Europe.

However, a lot has changed the landscape in recent months. Sergio has accumulated misfortunes: first it was an intervention on his knee (it was operated in early February) and then a muscle injury to which his recent positive for coronavirus has been added. To this must be added the absence, also due to COVID, of Varane. The team, far from resenting, has taken a step forward supported by two footballers who have been fundamental in recent successes: Nacho and Militao.

The latest good results reinforce Militao, a strong bet by the club (50 million paid for him in 2019) that until now had been well below what was expected. In addition, add Nacho to the equation, an element that was not available at this level. The youth squad's performance has always been exemplary, but it has been now, at 31, when he has shown the best level of his career. Maturity has made him raise his performance to become the leader of the defense at a key moment of the season. A step forward that had always been demanded of him, since until now his role had been impeccable but usually as a supporting actor and not with the leading role that he has had in recent meetings.

All this shows that Madrid knows how to live without Ramos. The intention of the club is that it continues, but it must be the captain who accepts the offer. Its spare parts have shown sufficient personality on days of maximum demand and next summer the demarcation will be further strengthened with the probable arrival of Alaba. A scenario that has caused that right now the Andalusian does not have the position of strength in which he was a few months ago …