Sergio Ramos
It takes a special sort of talent to luckily escape receiving a red card for pushing an opponent in the face, only to then stick out an arm and get sent-off in injury time. Sergio Ramos has that talent.
You couldn’t even call it an early bath because it was so late in the game against Deportivo on Sunday that he reached the dressing room at the same time as his team-mates.
Replays showed it was harsh – but only as harsh as the earlier incident when he received only a yellow had been lenient.
The strange thing about Ramos’ incredible record of reds is that, in Spain at least, the Real Madrid defender is seen as daft rather than dirty.
‘We are not happy with what happened with Sergio,’ said Zinedine Zidane after the game. ‘I don’t like seeing one of my players get sent off but it is something that we cannot change.’
It was not clear if he was talking about the decision or Ramos himself. Real might appeal the second yellow and try to change the decision, but they cannot change their club captain.
It was the 18th league sending off of Ramos’ career and he is now level with former Sevilla defender Pablo Alfaro. Just one more for the all-time record – no one doubts he’ll make it before this season is out.
The daft not dirty idea is based on the fact that of those 18 reds – coming in 405 league games – very few of them have been for serious foul-play.