Spain and Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos says national team benefits from not being dominated by Barcelona

Aditya Devavrat 00:44 24/03/2018
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  • Sergio Ramos is one of six Real Madrid players in Spain's squad.

    Real Madrid and Spain captain Sergio Ramos says the national team is better off for having a squad that is not dominated by Barcelona players.

    In the Euro 2012 final, Spain had seven Barca players on the pitch at the same time at one point, but the current Spain squad for Friday’s friendly with Germany and next week’s fixture against Argentina has six Real Madrid players to Barcelona’s three.

    “The generations change and new players emerge,” Ramos said. “Today there is more from Real Madrid than Barca, but that makes no difference.

    “Barca’s philosophy before was more highlighted in the philosophy of the national side, and now it is more balanced.

    “There are more clubs with players here, not just Madrid, also Valencia, Villarreal… and that is good for Spanish football.”

    Ramos is joined by Madrid teammates Isco, Marco Asensio, Nacho, Dani Carvajal, and Lucas Vazquez in the current squad, with academy products Rodrigo and Dani Parejo, both now at Valencia, Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso of Chelsea, and former Madrid player Jose Callejon, now at Napoli.

    With Sergio Busquets’ injury, Barcelona are represented only by Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta, and Gerard Pique, along with La Masia graduates Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich) and Pepe Reina (Napoli).

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