Has Sergio Ramos established himself as one of the greatest players to put on a Real Madrid jersey?
13 years ago a scrappy defender from Sevilla was brought into the Real Madrid camp for 27 million euros, a record fee at the time for a Spanish defender. His name is… Sergio Ramos Garcia. The struggles started early for Sergio Ramos with Madrid as all young record signings usually do, it took time, hard work, and sacrifice, but here we are 13 years later and Sergio Ramos is rated as the best centre back in the world.
Sergio Ramos believe it or not started his career at right back and even held down the right flank for Madrid in his first couple seasons until injury problems would have him move to centre back, and as they say, the rest is history.
He went on to become one of the four captains for Real Madrid in 2009, and after the departure of Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos took the role of being the head honcho on the field with the captain’s armband.
His time in Madrid has had its ups and downs but over the last five years Real Madrid has dominated European competition and a lot of that has to do with the ability and leadership of Sergio Ramos. He has slowly gotten his back line to the point where every single member is either shortlisted or on the World XI team.
Ramos has not just established himself as a leader, and one of the best defenders in the world, but he is also a goal threat. Anytime a set piece is up he is either up to take it or he will be the one winning the header for the goal. He has had so many clutch moments off that beautiful head of his to take Real Madrid on to be champions. Whether it is the Champions League or El Clasico, Ramos always shows up for the big moments when the club needs him most.
13 years since @SergioRamos' debut!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 10, 2018
🏆 19 trophies
⚽ 76 goals
🚩 568 matches#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/mG3VgM1Dl0
In these 13 seasons, Ramos has established himself not only as one of the greatest players in Europe but one of the greatest players in Real Madrid history. After 13 years of the grind, he has seen his way to the captain’s armband, four Champions League titles, two Spanish cup championships, three Spanish super cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, and three UEFA Super Cups. If that is not enough for his resume to get him into the all-time Madrid legends talk there is still more.
He has over 600 caps with Real Madrid, 80 goals, 37 assists, and 202 yellow cards all from the defense. The yellow cards are not as important, the number is just so ridiculously high it is hard to ignore and is a bit impressive.
Sergio has been helping Madrid rewrite history for 13 years now and at the age of 32, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down. The same could be said for the Spanish national team and the time he has spent with them, winning two Euros, and a World Cup while captaining the team for the last few years. With the likes of Pique, Iniesta, David Silva, and DeGea getting the armband for the Spanish national team is an extreme honor as well.
When you look at all the talent Sergio Ramos has played with, the things his teammates say about him, his leadership, and work ethic it is hard to think about what Real Madrid would do without him. Here is to 13 wonderful years and hopefully many more. Sergio Ramos oh captain my captain.