Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos says his team lifting the Champions League this season would be worth “maybe a little more” than rivals Barcelona having already won the 2017-18 La Liga and Copa del Rey double.
Barca have been far superior to Madrid in domestic play over the course of the season, easing to the La Liga title with four games left to play and winning a Copa competition in which Los Blancos were embarrassed during the early rounds by humble neighbours Leganes.
However, the Camp Nou outfit were themselves humiliated in the Champions League quarterfinals by Roma, while 2014, 2016 and 2017 competition winners Madrid will defend a 2-1 advantage when they host Bayern Munich in a semifinal second leg at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Asked at the pregame news conference whether a Champions League or domestic double was more worthy, the veteran defender knew exactly what his questioner was getting at.
“It depends for who,” Ramos said. “I know where your question is coming from — Barca have won the double. It is a great year for them, winning the Copa has its merits, La Liga a bit more, and winning the Champions League could be the same as both, and maybe a little more, depending on for who. But they have had a great season, and we will too if we can win the final.”
The Blancos skipper also stuck to a policy outlined earlier this month by Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, that their side would not give the new champions a “pasillo” guard of honour onto the pitch in Sunday’s La Liga Clasico at the Camp Nou.
“What Zidane says is gospel,” Ramos said. “There won’t be a pasillo, and that’s it. They have their Liga title, which is what they wanted, and the pasillo is not a big deal for them or for us.
“They can enjoy their trophy. We are trying to knock out the Germans and defend the Champions League in another final in Kiev.”
Dermot Corrigan is a Madrid-based football writer who covers La Liga and the Spain national team for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @dermotmcorrigan
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