Real triumph will outshine Barca’s double says Ramos
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos believes winning the Champions League would top Barcelona’s domestic double.
Fierce rivals Barca wrestled the Laliga title back from Real on Sunday with four games to spare having already lifted the Copa del Rey.
Ramos and his team-mates have endured a difficult league season, although they have the chance to make amends with another European success.
The Madrid club are aiming for a fourth Champions League title in five seasons and, ahead of tonight’s semifinal second leg against Bayern Munich, Spain defender Ramos believes that achievement would be superior to Barca’s.
“Barca have had a great year, they have won two titles; winning the cup has merit and the league even more,” said Ramos. “Winning the Champions League is a positive that is equivalent to those two or even more.
“For me it would be two great seasons, theirs and ours.”
Real, winners of the competition in 2014, 2016 and 2017, are firm favourites to make the Kiev final having won 2-1 in Germany last week.
Opponents Bayern were the last team to win the competition three years in a row – during the 1970s – and Ramos says he is driven by the chance to make history.
“I give importance to everything, we are making the impossible easy,” he added.
“It seems easy that we could win three in a row, that motito
0 Ramos: Out to make history. vates us in the day to day to keep breaking records. Maybe we give it the value it has tomorrow. “
In addition to the damaging first-leg defeat, Bundesliga champions Bayern also lost key men Jerome Boateng and Arjen Robben to injury.
Neither player is expected feature in the Spanish capital and vice-captain Thomas Muller has urged some of the club’s squad players to step up and seize their opportunities.
“In our situation, it is not interesting to know who is going down, but who is available, and we have a lot of good ones of that,” said Muller.
“Now others have to jump in the breach and get ready.”
Team-mate James Rodriguez has guaranteed that revenge will not be on his mind when he faces his former club.
Rodriguez, pictured right, helped Madrid win two Champions Leagues, two Club World Cups and a Spanish league before he left on loan last year because of declining playing time under coach Zinedine Zidane. Now he says his prime focus is to help Bayern overcome the 2-1 first-leg loss and advance to the final.
The Colombian playmaker said yesterday he expects a warm welcome from the locals at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, and will not celebrate if he scores out of respect for the Madrid fans.
“It’s beautiful to be able to return to a place that was my home for three years,” Rodriguez said. “They treated me very well here. It’s a place I always wanted to be. I spent three unique years here and I won many titles. I only have respect for the people here. I was happy here.”
Rodriguez left simply because he wanted to play more often. Zidane constantly praised heim when he was with Madrid but gave him few chances as a starter or reserve.
“I have absolutely nothing against (Zidane) or the club,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t have any feelings of anger towards him. I’m not going to try to win the match only because I’ll be playing against him. I just want to play well and help Bayern advance to the final. I want to play a good match, that’s it.”
The 26-year-old said nobody was at fault for his departure from Madrid.
“When I had the chance to play I did good things, scored goals, and helped my teammates,” he added. “When I got to play I played at a very good level.”
Madrid paid Monaco a reported €80 million (now about £70.3 million) for the then 22-year-old Rodriguez after he attracted the world’s attention at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Bayern have an option to buy Rodriguez for €42m(£37m) after his two-year loan expires.
“I don’t have to show anything to anybody,” Rodriguez said. “For now I’m with Bayern and I’m happy. I don’t know anything about the future.”