It was well into added time, with the game on a knife edge, when Sergio Ramos rose in the six-yard box to meet a set piece curled in from the right wing.
Back at his boyhood club Sevilla, Ramos was playing his first game in 18 years against his former team Real Madrid. And for a moment everyone on both sides at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan thought the 37-year-old had scored another of the late, headed goals which have marked his career.
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This time, though, the ball flew just too high and a very dramatic game ended in a deserved 1-1 draw. But Ramos had already done enough to show fans of both teams that he can still stamp his character and ability on top-level occasions.
The boyhood rojiblanco fan playing at the Sanchez Pizjuan again looked unlikely even after the 2023-24 campaign had started. After leaving Paris Saint-Germain when his contract ended last June, he turned down more lucrative offers, including from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but Sevilla did not seem interested.
Through the summer, Sevilla’s new sporting director Victor Orta and club president Jose Castro maintained they preferred other options. It was only after the season began with a 3-4 defeat at Deportivo Alaves, followed by a 1-2 reverse at home to Girona, that the move became inevitable. The team clearly needed a senior centre-back, the club hierarchy wanted a boost, and Ramos wanted to come home.
Still, it was not at all clear that Sevilla’s fans would welcome the idea, given Ramos’ difficult relationship with his former club since leaving for Madrid as a teenager back in 2005. He was upset by how former president Jose Maria del Nido blamed him for the exit and then suffered regular abuse from the club’s ‘Biris’ ultras on his returns to the Sanchez Pizjuan.
The most memorable incident over the years came in January 2017, when Ramos coolly scored a Panenka penalty for Madrid during an uproarious Copa del Rey tie and celebrated by cupping his ears to the angry ultras.
That was not easily forgotten, but Ramos has shown a deft intelligence and grace which might have surprised those who recall the more bombastic and self-indulgent moments over his long career. He said at his presentation in early September that he wanted bygones to be bygones, that he was “not a rancorous person”, and apologised for “obviously wrong gestures” he had made in the past.
That was mostly accepted, while inside Sevilla’s hierarchy and dressing room there was also some surprise at the “humility” Ramos showed on his return. “I can die happy now,” he said after his second debut, in a 1-0 La Liga win at home to Las Palmas in mid-September.
Volver a casa sabe mejor con victoria y portería a cero. Ha sido increíble sentir el calor del Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán 6.595 días después. ¡Seguimos!
— Sergio Ramos (@SergioRamos) September 17, 2023
Returning home tastes better with a win and a clean sheet. It's been amazing to feel the support of the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán… pic.twitter.com/rjEHUj1gPl
Born in the Andalusian capital’s proletarian suburb of Camas, Ramos’ base during his two decades away was his luxurious ‘finca’ at Bollullos de la Mitacion, half an hour from the city centre. Called ‘La Alegria,’ this property included a big mansion, a seven-a-side football pitch, two swimming pools, and a studfarm which produced a world champion thoroughbred called Yucatan de Ramos.
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This made an ideal base for the return home, with Ramos, his wife Pilar Rubio and their four children moving in permanently. Less happily, thieves broke into the property and stole jewellery and luxury items reportedly worth over €350,000 while the defender was making his second appearance back, a 1-1 draw at home to Lens in their Champions League group opener.
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The poor results led to more pressure on coach Jose Luis Mendilibar. The veteran Basque made clear from the start that Ramos would not be getting any special treatment and only started him in four of the first seven games.
Most fans and pundits reckoned Ramos deserved more playing time, although more due to a lack of other great options than his own tremendous performances. Even at this stage of his career, he retains an uncanny knack of drawing attention. Barcelona fans especially enjoyed his unfortunate own goal which gave the Catalans three points in late September. More avoidable was the needless free kick conceded, from which PSV scored a 95th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw in Sevilla’s second Champions League group game.
Two wins in 11 games in all competitions meant the writing was on the wall for Mendilibar — who was hired on a short-term deal last April to save the team from relegation in La Liga, then shocked everyone by guiding them to yet another Europa League trophy. Few were surprised, though, when he was fired after October 9’s 2-2 home draw with Rayo Vallecano. Ramos watched that entire 90 minutes from the bench.
There was never any doubt that new coach Diego Alonso, a personal pick by former Leeds sporting director Orta, would put Ramos back in the XI for Saturday’s game. The visitors were also happy to see the player who won four Champions Leagues, captaining them in three. On Friday, Los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti said: “Without Sergio, I probably would not be here” — a nod to the defender’s 93rd-minute header in the 2014 Champions League final, probably the most important goal in Madrid’s modern history.
Alonso’s decision to play a back four with older, slower players, and keep a high defensive line, looked questionable early on when Madrid twice had the ball in the net, although both goals were ruled out by the officials.
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As the game settled down, there was no sign of Ramos toning down his usual on-pitch behaviour because he was facing his old club. With Sevilla defending a set piece, he was in the thick of a push and shove, including jokingly embracing Blancos defender Antonio Rudiger. Seconds later, he threw himself full length across the six-yard box to divert a goalbound David Alaba effort up and over the bar.
Ramos appeared to be enjoying himself more and more as the game continued, with referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea’s erratic performance annoying both sides.
El principio de una bonita amistad. #LALIGAEASPORTS#LaCasaDelFútbol pic.twitter.com/UZXlIsU8Zg
— Fútbol en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarFutbol) October 21, 2023
After the defender’s stray arm caught Jude Bellingham on the jaw in the Madrid area, he squared up to Rudiger in another confrontation of Madrid centre-halves past and present.
After half-time, Ramos’ confident distribution from the back also helped Sevilla start to dominate possession. In the build-up to the opening goal, his whipped pass wide to Marcos Acuna gave the left-back space to cross for Youssef En-Nesyri to finish. After Dani Carvajal’s header made it 1-1, Sevilla came again — and Ramos’s first attempt at a flying header goalwards was tipped onto the post by Madrid goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Sevilla’s No 4 was also prominent during another melee when Vinicius — who again suffered racist abuse from the stands — challenged Sevilla keeper Orjan Nyland late on.
Then came the even later chance, which went too high. At full time, Ramos shared hugs and chats with players on both sides, including Bellingham and Rudiger. He then joined Sevilla captain Jesus Navas, who he has known for over two decades, to applaud all corners of the stadium (including the Biris) and receive acclaim back.
The result was a boost for Sevilla ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League Group B game at home to Arsenal. After just two points from their opening two games, they need to beat the Gunners to realistically keep alive chances of making the last 16. But third place in the group — and yet another tilt at the Europa League — would be acceptable at this point.
“I’ve always been an optimist,” said Ramos at his presentation back at the Sanchez Pizjuan a few weeks ago. A few weeks before that, it seemed that his career, at the top level at least, was over. But the 37-year-old looks likely to remain at the centre of things for some time yet.
(Photo: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)