Ronaldo’s red spoils Real win
SETBACK Star forward also handed fivematch ban for pushing referee during 31 win over Barcelona
Cristiano Ronaldo was hit with a five-match ban by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) on Monday for pushing the referee after being sent-off in Real Madrid’s 3-1 Spanish Super Cup, first leg win over Barcelona.
The World Player of the Year received an automatic one-match ban for his dismissal on Sunday and an extra four games for his reaction towards referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea.
Ronaldo was also fined €3,805 and has 10 days to appeal the ban.
Ronaldo, only introduced as a second-half substitute, was shown two quickfire yellow cards after blasting Madrid into a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to go.
However, Real extended their advantage with 10 men thanks to a sumptuous late strike from Marco Asensio.
Earlier, Lionel Messi’s penalty had cancelled out Gerard Pique’s own goal as Barca failed to get the early season boost they needed after losing Brazilian star Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record transfer fee.
Should any appeal fail, Ronaldo will miss Wednesday’s Super Cup second leg and Madrid’s first four La Liga games of the season against Deportivo la Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad. Madrid had already signalled their intent to appeal Ronaldo’s second yellow card shown for diving eight minutes from time when he went down inside the area under pressure from Samuel Umtiti.
“Ronaldo’s sending-off annoys me because even if it is not a penalty, the card is harsh,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane after the game. “We will see if we can do something so that he is available on Wednesday,” the Frenchman added.
“Once shown the red card, said player (Ronaldo) pushed me lightly as a sign of his disapproval,” de Burgos Bengoetxea wrote in his referee’s report.
According to the RFEF’s rules, such offences are met with a suspension of anything between four and 12 games, but previous cases also resulted in four-game bans.
While Zidane’s Madrid took a big step to a second title to start the season after beating Manchester United in the European Super Cup, it was a dismal debut for Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde. MEssi 77-pen Pique 50-og Ronaldo 80 Asensio 90
Ronaldo’s sendingoff annoys me because even if it is not a penalty, the card is harsh. We will see if we can do something so that he is available on Wednesday