That shove gets CR7 5 weeks

BARCELONA: Cristiano Ronaldo was banned for five matches for pushing the referee after he was shown a red card against Barcelona in Real Madrid’s 3-1 Spanish Super Cup first leg victory on Sunday, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said yesterday.

Ronaldo was sent off in bizarre fashion, collecting a yellow card for taking his shirt off during a goal celebration before being shown a second for diving.

Upset by referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea’s decision to dismiss him, Ronaldo shoved the official, which landed him in further hot water.

RFEF issued Ronaldo, also known as CR7, with a 3 005 euro fine and a four-match suspension in addition to the automatic one-game ban the player was due to serve for his red card. Ronaldo, who struck a spectacular second goal for a dominant Real, will miss the Super Cup second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu tomorrow and the club’s first four La Liga matches.

Having featured in the Confederations Cup for Portugal, the striker only returned to training earlier this month. He came on as a substitute in the Uefa Super Cup win over Manchester United on August 8.

Meanwhile, Sergio Busquets called on Barcelona to sign more players after the club’s Super Cup defeat.

The defensive midfielder believes his team need to reinforce if they are to wrestle power back from their rivals Real, who won a Champions League and La Liga double last season.

Barcelona announced the signing of Paulinho yesterday but still have to replace Neymar, who joined Paris St Germain for a world record 222 million euros.

Blaugrana have been linked with Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele, both of whom might have been helpful as Barcelona struggled to break down Real at Camp Nou in the first leg.

“We don’t need new signings because of the result, but because we always have to renew (our squad) and try to improve, no matter what,” Busquets told reporters. – Reuters