25 February 2024 , 05:00
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Sergio Ramos missed out on his first potential Bernabeu return through injury, but the former Real Madrid skipper is ready to take on his old side after returning to Sevilla with "unfinished business".
The Spanish international defender spent 16 years in Madrid, making more than 600 appearances for the club and winning the Champions League four times. After a spell with Paris Saint-Germain, though, he has decided to write the final chapter in his career back where it all began.
Ramos left for PSGin the summer of 2021, but a calf injury kept him out of both legs of what might have been a Champions League reunion with his old employers. Madrid came out on top on that occasion, thanks to a second-leg hat-trick from Karim Benzema, but Ramos was frustratedly forced to watch on while unable to impact the game.
Until this season, Ramos had played just twice against Los Blancos - home and away in the 2004-05 season, when he was still a youngster during his first spell at Sevilla. He faced off against them in October at the age of 37, giving a solid account of himself in a 1-1 draw, but that was in Seville and a return to his old stomping ground is a different story entirely.
“That unfinished business I have with the fans, with my family, with Puerta, with Reyes," Ramos said of his decision to rejoin Sevilla. "It was a very, very emotional, very sentimental issue which I prioritised over any other good offer we had.”
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The names he mentions are those of Antonio Puerta and Jose Antonio Reyes, two Sevilla players who lost their lives tragically young. Puerta was just 22 when he died after suffering a cardiac arrest in a match against Getafe, while Reyes - also previously of Real Madrid and Arsenal - died aged 35 after a car accident.
“I experienced it in an incredible way, it was like taking a huge weight off my shoulders from many years of wanting to feel loved at home, loved by the fans," Ramos added, reflecting on his welcome home. "The truth is that it was a very emotional moment."
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Ramos played in the reverse fixture before the turn of the year (Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)The match comes with Sevilla on an upturn in form, but this season has been a difficult one for them. Current manager Quique Sanchez Flores is their third of the season, after Jose Luis Mendilibar and Diego Alonso were both dismissed, but a run of four unbeaten league games has lifted them clear of the relegation zone.
Ramos has scored once in the league since his return - in a 3-0 win at Granada in Sanchez Flores' first game in charge in December. Another strike at the home of his former club would be equally welcome, but don't expect him to celebrate.
"It will make me feel like I am at home," he said of returning to the Bernabeu. "In the end I spent many years there in the most important moments of my career. And I have wonderful memories of the people, the fans, everyone.. my teammates. I think it will also be a unique moment for me, a very emotional moment.
“I have a lot of respect for all the fans and all of Madrid, I wouldn’t celebrate but if I happen to score and it was enough for us to win I would be delighted, those three points would be very good for us.”
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