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Los Blancos suffered a humiliating midweek defeat without their veteran center, but he managed to inspire them to a 3-1 victory at the Camp Nou.
When Real Madrid need a savior, they turn to Sergio Ramos. The captain is already an icon and his legend continues to grow over time.
The Spaniard was vital to Madrid on both sides of the field in their title fight last season and proved decisive again on Saturday, converting crucially from the penalty spot to put his team back in front in a massive victory. 3-1 over Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Los Blancos reached El Clásico on the brink of a full-blown crisis after regrettable losses to the Cadiz League minnows and a coronavirus-ravaged Shakhtar Donetsk, and the Spanish media even suggested that Zinedine Zidane could lose his job if his team lost in Catalunya.
Ramos had missed the Champions League midweek defeat to Shakhtar through injury, and was forced to watch helplessly from the stands as his team’s defense was raped three times in 13 minutes of the first half, both. goals like those they had conceded during the last nine games of the 2019-20 League Season.
Nobody was surprised, therefore, in the least that he was willing to overcome the pain against Barça, ignoring the blow to the knee last weekend to start in the Classical.
“He will be with us, he is our leader,” Zidane enthused before the game. And the Frenchman thanked him. His Madrid had never lost three games in a row, nor had they been beaten at the Camp Nou, and Ramos made sure they stayed that way.
Fede Valverde broke the deadlock in the fifth minute and despite how good his shot was, with the ball tucked into the top corner past the defenseless Neto, it was a surprisingly easy goal in terms of accumulation.
Sergio Busquets was at fault, completely failing to track Valverde’s run into the area, thus allowing the Uruguayan to reach the pass from Karim Benzema, who had divided Gerard Piqué and Clement Lenglet.
Piqué, with good reason, turned to protest with Busquets after the goal, with Valverde’s incessant drive and energy badly exposing the latter’s growing immobility.
Barcelona’s brightest hope put them on the level, with Ansu Fati in the right place at the right time to clinically dispatch Jordi Alba’s cut. In this way, the young Spanish striker, who will turn 18 in a week, became the second youngest scorer in the history of the Classic.
After a fast and furious opening, the game settled somewhat after the hosts’ tie, as the older and wiser bosses began to exert some control over the pace of play.
Ramos is a master of the dark arts, of course, and he did well to stifle Barca’s momentum. At one point, he cleverly used his butt to take down Sergino Dest as the full-back ran into the area, and the Madrid captain had his way too.
Dest, however, continued to prove to be a good attack start for the hosts. The first American to appear in a Clásico was one of the few Barça players who did his best, although it was still a surprise that the new signing, who does not speak any Spanish, was allowed to conduct the flash interview on the side of the court after the game.
Busquets, Piqué and Lionel Messi were nowhere to be seen after a defeat that will really hurt. Indeed, that Ramos was the main protagonist of the game will certainly hurt Barca fans, given how often he torments them in the past.
The middle half combined with players like Casemiro to ensure that the likes of Pedri and Philippe Coutinho had little impact on proceedings.
Ramos and Casemiro made sure the teenage Pedri had little impact for Barcelona, while Coutinho also ran into the brick wall of a Madrid captain, who also showed finesse at the other end.
However, in addition to upsetting the locals with his uncompromising defense, he also got upset on the other side of the field.
After Lenglet foolishly tugged at Ramos’ shirt in the area – technically a foul but the defender overplayed the contact – the 34-year-old got up to shoot the resulting penalty.
Neto waited a long time, aware that Ramos has a predilection for Panenka, but after a staggered career, the Madrid defender slipped the ball into the goalkeeper’s lower right corner.
It was Ramos’ fifth goal in the Clásico, which saw him match Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman’s spoils in the historic derby.
The Dutchman had more pressing concerns, of course. This was a frustrating day for the former street sweeper. Koeman left Busquets even though the Spaniard had arguably the worst game of his career, and then after Ramos’ goal he had no idea how to turn things around.
The former Everton manager threw on all the forwards at his disposal – Ousmane Dembélé, Antoine Griezmann, Trincao, Martin Braithwaite – without leaving structure behind them to create chances or defend.
That meant it was Madrid who had the best chances in the final stages despite Barcelona desperately needing a draw, and after Neto denied Ramos a second goal, Luka Modric pushed his way through the Barça defense. to happily shoot home the third of the visitors. objective.
The expression on Messi’s face at that moment said it all. The Argentine has gone more than 900 days without scoring against Madrid and only once was he close here, flaying Ramos in the first half before failing to beat Thibaut Courtois at his near post.
However, although Ramos may have lost that individual battle, Madrid’s best soldier, its captain, leader and El Clásico legend, once again assured that Zidane’s team won the war.
