CI also couldn’t see but almost everyone else could see. Crouched in the center, the Real Madrid midfielder turned his back on him and put his hands to his face. On the left, Éder Militão was next to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. Fifty meters away, Iker Muniain of Athletic was walking, blood boiling. “Explain it, then,” he was demanding. “Always the same. Not even you can understand it. And to his left, Sergio Ramos was waiting to receive a penalty, in cold blood. He was 12 yards from goal or “11 meters closer to the title,” as Marca said, which was easy to say later.
Easy to say in the moment too, at least for some. There were 17 minutes left, just over four games left at the end of the longest season, and it was 0-0 on the ground called the Cathedral, the last major hurdle between Madrid and the league. The stakes were high, but if Casemiro was nervous, he need not have been. There was silence, the place was not the same when the only spectator was Pichichi’s bust. And Ramos had been here before: only Paco Gento had won more times in San Mamés, and not for a long time, while these moments and this place had become his.
Inked on Ramos’ ribs is the phrase “I am the owner of my own destiny.” He also owned them, and who better? When asked on Sunday what he thinks when he is waiting to receive a penalty, he replied: “Only the three points.” He added: “Those moments of greatest uncertainty are when I feel most comfortable; I’m the right person for it, happy to do it. “If the first part wasn’t entirely true, the second part definitely was.
When he sent a penalty above the bar against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinal in 2012, denying Madrid a place in the final when the obsession with their 10th European Cup suffocated them, Ramos told his brother Rene the next time he would show them; the next time he analyzed it, that would shut them up. He did so, in the Euro semifinal, two months later. I must say, Captain, I must admire your balls.
Maybe later. He has received many penalties since then and many have been Panenkas. Since Cristiano Ronaldo left, he has taken almost everyone. At first that might have felt a little forgiving, but no more. Ramos said that saying that it is “logical” looked at him coldly and that taking penalties now seems smart, an act of efficiency. Last Thursday, he scored the 79-minute kick that defeated Getafe 1-0, his 19th. in a row – plus two more in shootings – going back more than two years. He had scored against Croatia, Norway, Sweden and Romania; Sevilla, Galatasaray, Eibar, Real Sociedad, Valladolid and Getafe, twice against Atlético, Celta and Girona, three times against Leganés. Now he had another against Athletic.
When the ball entered, Ramos ran out, pulling the Madrid badge and screaming. Most of his teammates ran towards him, but Casemiro did not. Hearing the ball hit the net, he got down on his knees, alone, covered his face, and prayed.
He knew what this meant. Madrid were on the verge of achieving a seven point advantage and, although Barcelona would reduce it to four with a 4-1 victory at Villarreal, Quique Setién admitted: “This was a performance we needed before.” Now what they need is a miracle. “In the bag,” said the AS headline. For once, it didn’t seem particularly premature. Madrid has four games left: Alavés (h), Granada (a), Villarreal (h), Leganés (a), and a four-point lead, plus head-to-head lead. They can afford to lose points twice. They have not left any since the closing, when Ramos learned to play the piano and grew a beard in which a hamster could hide. They’ve won seven games in a row, and that, said Zinedine Zidane, “is no small feat.”
This would be just Madrid’s third title in 12 years. In that time, they have won four European Cups. And here is a tantalizing theory, tentatively offered: when the league became a Champions League, they went and won it; When the season turned into a new tournament, autonomous and (re) starting in the summer: shorter, compact and packaged in a few weeks, the reward is there. Eleven “finals” Ramos called them, and although that is usually an empty cliche, this time it felt significant. More yours. The relentless schedule, there is no time to think. Just win. Alone. Get. Through.
They had to be close enough, of course. In previous years, the league had already ended in March. This season, Madrid had lost just three times before closing and was undefeated between October and February. There is a reason why they have a better history of head to head. A classic win and a guaranteed draw before the pandemic symbolized a change, even if, defeated by Betis just before everything stopped, they also needed Barcelona to slip. Once I would; three times more a boardroom, a crisis was an advantage.
And yet, there is something about the reboot that is reminiscent of the Champions League, where Madrid has been so dominant, offering something immediate and tangible to hold on to, the finish line in sight, with no margin for error. As if they liked life to the limit: Russian roulette focuses the mind and makes them who they are.
Madrid have won all seven games since the return. It has not always been brilliant, although they were excellent in the second half against Valencia, and on Sunday night the focus was again on the referees, the president of Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, found a place to hide in the Complaints that the decisions of the VAR since the restart have not been “the same” and that “the same team always benefits”.
Madrid was the first with a victory in San Sebastián, where a penalty was imposed when Vinícius fell, the winner scored after Karim Benzema controlled the ball with his shoulder / arm and where Real Sociedad had a goal from Adnan Januzaj discarded on the outside against Mikel Merino. Against Valencia, Rodrigo Moreno’s opening goal had been ruled out by another offside. And against Athletic on Sunday, Madrid received a penalty when Dani García stepped on and tripped over Marcelo, while Athletic was not when Ramos accidentally stepped on Raúl García. Iñaki Williams was not impressed. Nor does Munian. “We are looking at what is happening in the last few weeks, which team are making decisions in favor of,” he said.
“I’m tired of it, it seems like we’re always talking about the same thing,” said Zidane. “It seems that we only won thanks to the referees; Madrid deserves respect. “Ramos insisted:” We are not going to win the league because of the referees: those who have made mistakes must be self-critical, look at their players. ”
Madrid have won seven in a row, have kept four consecutive clean sheets and have not even been left behind. There has been an almost inevitable sense of mission and certainty that recalls some of those European successes. There is a depth to the team, a variety of talents that no one can match, and there is also strength and seriousness to them, an awareness that it only takes a moment and that moment will come. That when I do, they will take it. Whether it’s a flash of inspiration from Benzema, a VinÍcius run, Toni Kroos standing on a 20-yard shot with ridiculous ease, or Casemiro, his most consistent player, suddenly appearing in the six-yard box.
And then there is Captain Clutch, in his element, which by extension is also his. Sergio Ramos embodies the mindset of Real Madrid better than anyone, the man in the habit of appearing when the season reaches its climax, occasionally absent in the fall but excellent in the spring, driven by fate right in front of him. The man who prefers to push. An almost cartoonish character, all red cards and redemption, with a sense of important moments, the stage that awaits. The finals, the photos, Ramos’ time: 92.48 and all that.
All of this too. Not so dramatic, but not so different either. That series of penalties begins in May 2018 with an 89-minute winner against Sevilla, his former club. Of the 20 spot kicks, 14 changed the result. The last three, in three weeks against Real Sociedad, Getafe and Athletic, changed the fate of a single league, the longest and shortest title race as well. “The Covid league,” Ramos called it, as if it were a completely new competition, as if it felt. It also feels like it’s yours. Since soccer came back, None In Spain he has scored more goals. When the last penalty was given, Casemiro couldn’t look, well aware of what this meant, but the man who took it knew it too, so everyone else knew. Put Sergio Ramos in place, and only one thing is going to happen.
.
