Karim Benzema netted two goals and Gareth Bale added another as Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Girona.
Sergio Ramos said sharing the scoring is important to success after he offered Real Madrid’s second penalty against Girona to Karim Benzema on Sunday night.
“You have to have team spirit and not be selfish,” Ramos said. “I’m the first penalty taker and Karim is the second.”
Ramos scored from the spot in the first half of the 4-1 win when Marc Muniesa fouled Marco Asensio inside the box after Girona had taken the lead through Borja Garcia. Benzema scored the second penalty after Asensio was fouled again inside the box, this time by Pere Pons.
“It was completely improvised,” Ramos said about his penalty after he clipped it down the middle of the goal, similar to a Panenka. “It’s a technique that I do sometimes and the goalkeepers usually know.”
Cristiano Ronaldo used to take penalties for Madrid before joining Juventus, and Ramos has converted two of the three penalties awarded to his side this season. The first was in the UEFA Super Cup defeat against Atletico Madrid.
Gareth Bale said after the game that he would like to take penalties as well, “but it’s the manager who decides and you have to respect these decisions.”
Meanwhile, Xabi Alonso will start his coaching career with Madrid’s academy on Tuesday, taking over the under-14 side in order to gain experience so he can continue to coach in the future.
Alonso, 36, left Madrid for Bayern Munich after five years in 2014. He retired at the end of the 2016-17 season and is ready to take his first steps into coaching after completing a course for elite players in Las Rozas, the home of Spain’s football federation, earlier in the year.
Another Madrid legend who completed that course, Raul Gonzalez, started his coaching career last weekend at the Madrid Youth Cup as he manages Madrid’s under-16 side.
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