La Liga giants Real Madrid are reportedly going to challenge the red card given to skipper Sergio Ramos in the side’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The Spanish defender was shown a straight red card in the 86th minute after tripping up Gabriel Jesus through on goal with City leading the game by 2-1 margin, meaning now Ramos is certain to miss the decisive second leg that will be played at the Etihad stadium.
And with Real’s gaffer desperate to have his best side at his disposal, Zinedine Zidane’s led club will appeal against the red – according to Cadena SER – as they look to overturn the 2-1 deficit at the Etihad on March 17.
Earlier, Ramos was largely untested for much of the first sixty minutes of the match but the visitors finally ramped it up a gear and wreaked havoc in Madrid’s defence.
After Isco’s opener in the 60th minute, Gabriel Jesus levelled things up before Kevin De Bruyne sealed the winner for the defending Premier League champions on Wednesday night.
And a fatal eight minutes for Madrid was compounded at the Bernabeu after Ramos received his marching orders for fouling Jesus on the edge of the penalty area.
This match’s red took Ramos up to four sending offs in his long Champions League career – sharing a competition record, with only two other players in history who have as many reds in Europe.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edgar Davids both have had four reds during their Champions League careers.
Wednesday night’s dismissal also marked the Madrid and Spain defender’s 26th career red card.
Ramos and his team will now play against Barcelona on March 1, the second El Clasico of the season and the victor consolidate their position at the top of the table. Presently Barcelona are the league leaders with 55 points from 25 matches, 2 more than Real Madrid who also have played the same number of matches.
Meanwhile, third-placed Atletico Madrid is 10 points adrift of Real Madrid with 43 points in 25 matches. Fourth-placed Sevilla also have the same number of points but are placed behind Atletico due to inferior goal difference.
