Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 13:21• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 13:37

Sergio Ramos has won the Champions League four times as a Real Madrid player and over the years he has become a true figurehead of the Spanish superpower. Nevertheless, the now 34-year-old defender looks back with somewhat mixed feelings on the years that have passed the Royal. Ramos believes he could have won even more with Real if Lionel Messi had not ended up at Barcelona.

“Perhaps we would have won more prizes with Real if he (Messi, ed.) Had not been a Barcelona player,” Ramos explains in the documentary series ‘The Legend of Sergio Ramos’, broadcast by Amazon Sport. “We have really suffered against Messi over the years. There was a time when we hit the best opponent in history with Barcelona. We had a great coach with José Mourinho, but it was still very difficult to beat them. We didn’t win much and there was a lot of tension, caused by Barcelona or by ourselves “, says Ramos in the run-up to Saturday’s meeting between the title contenders in Madrid. With Real he also won four Spanish league titles and two national cups.

In the documentary about Ramos, trainer Zinedine Zidane and some of Real’s teammates also speak. The defender is sometimes criticized by the outside world, but internally the respect for the routine is particularly great. “What he shows on a daily basis is really spectacular”, Zidane exults. Despite the fact that he turned 35 last month, the player himself does not think about quitting. “To retire? Today I say that that is not the case at all”, said the man, who is in danger of missing the second El Clásico of this season due to an injury.

Ramos came back injured from the international match with Spain and he missed the first meeting with Liverpool (3-1 win) in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday. Chances are he also has the clashes with Barcelona and the return match against Liverpool (April 13) has to be dropped because of the muscle injury. In the meantime, it remains unclear whether Ramos will also be connected to Real after the summer break. Still no agreement has been reached with the board of the number three in LaLiga about the continuation of the cooperation.