SERGIO RAMOS amazingly chose a tense night of title-clinching glory to attempt one of the most audacious penalty DOUBLE ACTS ever.
And the Real Madrid skipper only got away with it after a retake!
Real striker Karim Benzema can clearly be seen INSIDE the area before Sergio Ramos slots a cheeky penalty pass to him
Karim Benzema slots home after Sergio Ramos passes a penalty to him – but the Frenchman had encroached before the spot-kick was taken
It all turned out perfectly in the end for centre-back Sergio Ramos and Real as they clinched a record 34th LaLiga titleCredit: EPA
Karim Benzema slotted home a far more conventional retake without fuss for his second goal on the way to a 2-1 victoryCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Spain legend Ramos TAPPED a spot-kick for Karim Benzema to fire home – but the striker had crept into the area too early.
Referee Alejandro Hernández ordered a second go – and this time Benzema stepped forward alone to ram home.
That sealed the Frenchman’s double in a 2-1 win that dethroned Barcelona after Real’s ten victories in a row earned them a record 34th crown.
And it also saved Ramos from one of the more embarrassing moments of a career in which most of the controversy has been at the other end of the pitch.
Spread amongst his four Champions League successes and now five LaLiga titles have been 26 red cards, albeit sometimes for goal-saving fouls when Real attacked too recklessly.
And he has also been accused of overdoing the sneaky hardman image at times.
Never more so, of course, than when a “tangle” with Mo Salah early in the 2018 Champions League final ended with the frontman being forced off with a dislocated shoulder after Liverpool were on top, only to lose 3-1.
Ramos said afterwards his “conscience is clear” as he “never wanted to hurt a colleague on the pitch”.
But he could not have denied his intent this time with a baffling choice of a precocious penalty at a time when scoring could have proved crucial.
In the end it was just anther strange touch in a season extended by the coronavirus crisis, as Real won the title behind closed doors at their reserve venue, the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium, rather than play post-lockdown at a vast but empty Bernabeu.
Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos celebrate as Real Madrid win the title with a game to spareCredit: Reuters
A kiss for history as Sergio Ramos picks up his fifth LaLiga crownCredit: Reuters
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
