Sergio Ramos Blames Jealousy of Madrid's Success Behind Poor Refereeing Decisions

Sergio Ramos has claimed jealousy of Real Madrid's success is behind refereeing decisions which have gone against them in recent weeks, including his sending off in Madrid's opening game of the season.

Madrid began their title challenge with a trip to Deportivo La Coruna, and they made light work of it. Goals from Gareth Bale, Casemiro and Ton Kross gave Madrid the three points after a comfortable 3-0 victory, however the game ended on a moment of controversy after Madrid captain Ramos was shown a second yellow card deep into injury time.

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His first yellow card came after an altercation with Deportivo defender Fabian Schar, in which Ramos claimed he was trying to push the defender away after the opposition players "ganged up on him", and his second yellow came after an aerial duel with substitute Borja Valle in which he raised his elbow which the referee saw as malicious.

This incident came the week after manager Zinedine Zidane publicly slammed the Spanish FA's decision to ban Cristiano Ronaldo for five games for pushing the referee after he was sent off against Barcelona.

Following the 18th La Liga red card of his career, Ramos told Cadenaser: "We can all talk freely. Not everybody likes that we are doing well, but we sleep fine every night. There were some controversial moments. It was most important to begin with a win, but when you end up off the pitch after a harsh decision with the second yellow..."

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He even went onto claim that English referees can be more lenient, speaking from his experiences in the Champions League and playing for Spain.

He added: "I don't think decisions are made in advance, but sometimes people should pay more attention.

"Maybe referees allow more in the Champions League and in internationals. We should look a bit more at the English model, where they let more things go. They also look back more on events afterwards, and are punishing dives now. That is better than what we do here."

Ramos defended his performance against Deportivo, and maintained his belief that the second yellow card he received for raising an elbow during an aerial bout was harsh.

He said: "I just watched it back 10 times, and there was no intention to hurt the opponent. The referee interpreted it like this. You must respect that, [but] I was just supporting myself in the air. I jumped much higher and only made contact with his shoulder."

ESPN reported that Madrid's director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno has suggested the club will look to appeal Ramos' second yellow in order for him to play at home to Valencia next Sunday.