Booked Ramos shoots himself in the foot
Real captain makes U-turn after suggesting he earned a caution on purpose
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has backtracked on his suggestion that he deliberately earned a yellow card against Ajax Amsterdam yesterday morning (Singapore time) to ensure he would be banned for the second leg.
Real will carry a 2-1 advantage back to the Santiago Bernabeu, but Ramos will miss the return leg, after being booked for a rash tackle on Kasper Dolberg, two minutes after Marco Asensio's 87th-minute winner.
A third yellow card brings a one-match suspension and Ramos, who was making his 600th appearance for Los Blancos, was seen to be deliberately missing the second leg against Ajax to ensure his availability for the quarter-finals.
If he were available for the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, he would be risking a booking or a red card which would mean a suspension for the quarter-finals instead.
However, following his latest revelations, Uefa could add another match to his ban.
Real defender Dani Carvajal was suspended for two games last season after intentionally earning a booking in the group stages.
"The truth is that, given the result, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't something I had in mind," Ramos said after the game.
"It is not to underestimate the opponent but sometimes there is a time to make decisions and I have done so."
Around an hour later, Ramos appeared to backtrack on Twitter. He wrote: "I want to make clear that it hurts me more than anyone, I have not forced the card, as I didn't against AS Roma in my previous game in the Champions League.
"I will support from the stands as a fan more with the hope of playing in quarters."
All yellow cards and pending suspensions expire after the quarter-finals and cannot be carried forward to the semis.
Real needed help from the video assistant referee (VAR) to cancel out Ajax defender Nicolas Tagliafico's goal in the first half, before Hakim Ziyech equalised following Karim Benzema's opener.
It was the first time that the VAR was used in the Champions League.
Tagliafico appeared to have headed the Dutch side ahead on 38 minutes, but referee Damir Skomina disallowed the goal after Dusan Tadic was shown to be offside on replays.
Tadic was deemed to be interfering with Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, after the Belgian spilled a header following a corner-kick and Tagliafico nodded in the rebound.
Uefa later confirmed why the decision was taken.
"The referee identified that Tagliafico's teammate Dusan Tadic was in an offside position and interfering with the goalkeeper - preventing him from playing or being able to play the ball - as the header was being made," said Uefa on Twitter.
"This was in line with VAR protocol and the goal was correctly overturned and a free-kick given for offside."
The VAR system, widely used during last year's World Cup, and now called upon in most of Europe's leading leagues, is making its Champions League debut after it was introduced for this season's knockout stages.
VAR was initially set to be rolled out in the Champions League from the start of next season, but the decision to bring forward its use follows lobbying from top European clubs. - AFP
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