Real Madrid‘s shock exit from the Champions League prompted an astonishing row between club captain Sergio Ramos and president Florentino Perez, according to AS.
Ramos was suspended for Madrid’s stunning 4-1 loss to Ajax at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, having deliberately gotten himself a suspension-triggering yellow card at the end of the first leg in Amsterdam during a 2-1 Los Blancos win that seemed to have put them in pole position to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The defender watched the game from the stands and joined his team-mates afterwards in the dressing room, where a livid Perez proceeded to lay into the players, reportedly berating them for their poor attitude and dedication and going as far as to call the players “disgraceful”.
That particular word incensed Ramos, who allegedly turned the tables on Perez and accused the president and the club’s board of poor planning, blaming them for Madrid’s disastrous season which has seen them collapse in the space of a week, as they fell 12 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after a 1-0 loss to their rivals last Saturday, got knocked out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals last Wednesday thanks to a 3-0 loss to the same team, and then relinquished their hold on the Champions League trophy, which Ramos had lifted for three straight seasons before watching his team get knocked out on Tuesday.
AS claim Perez responded by threatening to sack the centre-back, prompting Ramos to say, “pay me up and I will leave”, before adding, “I have given everything and broken my back for this badge, this club and for you.”
The spat shows no signs of abating as Perez and the rest of the Madrid hierarchy are contemplating the future of manager Santiago Solari and potentially replacing him with former Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, who does not have a good relationship with Ramos.
