Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari believes the absence of Sergio Ramos cost his side a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Los Blancos were humiliated 4-1 by Ajax on Tuesday night, sending the reigning European champions crashing out of the competition at the Bernabeu.
Why was Ramos absent? Five key things to know…
- Ramos was suspended after picking up a yellow card in the first leg in Amsterdam.
- The booking was Ramos’ third of the tournament meaning he would miss the next match due to card accumulation.
- However, the Spaniard revealed after the match that the card was an intentional ploy to avoid picking up a ban in the latter stages.
- As such, UEFA handed the Real skipper a further one-match ban for deception, meaning he would have missed the first leg of the quarter-finals anyway.
- The self-inflicted suspension has now come as a further blow to the club, as Real capitulated against Ajax without their captain.
Ramos’ presence was solely missed in the Spanish capital as Erik ten Hag’s men ran riot, carving the Madrid defence open at sheer will, netting four past a bewildered Thibaut Courtois.
The Real captain had deliberately picked up the booking in the reverse tie to clean his card slate for the latter stages of the competition, but Solari has expressed his frustration at the decision.
Speaking after the game, Solari said: “Without talking bad about any player, of course we missed the captain.
“It’s still a painful week, the fans have been spectacular, they’ve been supporting a difficult moment, they have not caught up with us.
“They are three times European champions, today we have been eliminated, it is a very sad moment and it puts in context what they have done before, it is very difficult to win.
“Madrid always comes back and always comes back stronger.”
The Real defence was all at sea in the fixture, with Solari’s backline guilty of plenty of aberrations, notably Nacho who saw red in the closing stages of the fixture.
Defeat has now capped off a dire week for the club in which they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey, La Liga title race, and now the Champions League.
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Solari refuses to quit
Amidst the current furore in the capital, Solari has shown defiance and insisted he will not be handing in his resignation following a tumultuous week.
The Argentinian took control from Julen Lopetegui in October, and while he showed initial promise, the club have fallen apart at the seams in recent times.
Former club president Ramon Calderon has recently suggested the club have already “called” Jose Mourinho about the job, but Solari will not be leaving without a fight.
“I didn’t come here to give up,” he told a post-match press conference.
Dani Carvajal recently described the season as s of a disaster, but Solari made a rallying cry to his players, claiming the league title is still up for grabs.
“Carvajal has a lot of character, he was speaking in the heat of the moment on the side of the pitch.
“The season goes on, we’ve still got La Liga.”
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