Sergio Ramos Praises Barcelona But Confirms Real Madrid Won't Give Guard of Honor
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has confirmed that Los Blancos will not give their arch-rivals and newly crowned La Liga champions Barcelona a guard of honor in Sunday's El Clasico at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona were crowned champions for the third time in four years on Sunday when they defeated Deportivo 2-4 on Sunday. It has been a tradition in the Spanish top tier for the winners to receive a guard of honour from their opponents before their remaining games. However, Real boss Zinedine Zidane explained in early April that his side would not keep to tradition.
“Soon I’m going to be asked about this and my answer is very clear. It’s my decision and it’s final. I don’t understand the concept of the guard of honor and so we aren’t going to do it. Barca broke with the tradition," Zidane was quoted as saying by REUTERS.
Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba has since denied Zidane's claims and insisted that Barcelona would have provided their rivals with a guard of honor, if they were instead crowned as champions.
"In our case, Barca would do the guard of honor. The Club World Cup was a competition we didn't play in. At the Bernabeu, in the league, we have previously performed a guard of honor. If they don't want to give us a guard of honor it will be because it comes from upstairs," the 29-year-old was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has confirmed that his team will obey the manager, saying, as quoted by Marca: "What Zidane says is gospel. We're making too much fuss out of all this. Barca have the title, which is what they wanted, but there will be no guard of honor, full stop.
"They want to enjoy their title and the same for us and ours, we need to eliminate the Germans [Bayern Munich] and to reach another final."
The center back did save some minor praise for Barca, continuing: "Barcelona have had a great year, they have won two titles. Winning the Copa del Rey has its merits and La Liga even more so. Winning the Champions League has that extra merit that is equivalent to those two, or even more. For me, that would be two very great seasons: theirs and ours."
