February 15 – UEFA have launched an investigation that could rule Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos out of a potential Champions League quarter-final after he admitted getting booked on purpose in Wednesday’s 2-1 win at Ajax Amsterdam.
Ramos was shown a yellow card in the 89th minute of the last-16 first leg tie, his third booking of the tournament which means he will be suspended from the second leg in the Spanish capital on March 5.
If he had been booked in the second leg instead, he would have automatically been ruled out of the first leg of the quarters. But should holders Madrid progress to the last eight, Ramos would now instead have a clean slate for the rest of the competition.
But his post-match interview, Ramos did himself no favours by admitting he intentionally got booked which breaks UEFA’s rules and is punishable with an extra one-match suspension.
“Looking at the result I would be lying if I said it wasn’t intentional,” Ramos told television reporters. “It’s something I was thinking about, it’s not to underestimate the opponent nor say the tie is over but in football you have to take difficult decisions so I decided to do it.”
UEFA said on Thursday that it had launched a disciplinary investigation “in connection with the statements made” by Ramos who was playing his 600th game for Real.
Ramos, realising he had got himself into deep water, later attempted to backtrack with two posts on Twitter in which he regretted getting suspended for the second leg.
“In a game there is always a lot of tension and you have to take decisions in seconds. The best thing about tonight was the result, the worst that I will not be in the second leg due to one moment in the game,” Ramos wrote.
“I want to make it clear that this hurts me more than it would hurt anyone, I did not get the yellow card on purpose, just like the last yellow card I got in the competition, and I will be supporting from the stands like any other fan hoping we get into the quarter-finals.”
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