Sergio Ramos holds the red card record at Real Madrid
The Real Madrid captain will miss Sunday's clash with Sevilla after being sent off for a twentieth time for Los Blancos. His disciplinary problems are a growing concern for the club.
Sergio Ramos added to his woeful disciplinary record on Sunday night against Las Palmas by receiving his 20th red card as a Real Madrid player. He holds the all-time record for sendings off for Los Blancos, almost doubling the number of the list’s red-ribbon holder, Fernando Hierro, who accumulated 12 during his time with the team. The current captain has received seven straight reds and has only had his sanction rescinded on one occasion (when one of his yellows against Osasuna during the 2013-14 campaign was struck off).
His habit of taking early showers is a concern for the club as he is considered one of the key components of the team. This weekend’s match against Sevilla will be the second he has missed this season (he was unavailable to face Levante due to an accumulation of bookings) and his continual run-ins with referees is hardly the kind of PR he needs during a season in which he has sat out 14 games due to injury. The manner in which the 29-year-old ironically applauded Fernández Borbalán’s decision following his foul on Momo did not sit well with the club’s top brass either. There was a feeling in Madrid that the Andalusia native had turned a corner after going all of last season without a single sending off.
Paradoxically, he has never picked up a red card in any of his 130 appearances for the Spanish national team.
Ramos is now level with Patxi Salinas with 15 premature trips down the tunnel in La Liga. He averages one red card every 23 games and, if he keeps up at this pace, will have caught up with Alfaro and Aguado to become the most sent off player in the division’s history (18) within two seasons.