Real Madrid

Sergio Ramos: 'I prefer Premier League referees'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 22 August 2017

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is unhappy with the standard of refereeing in La Liga, having been shown the 23rd red card of his career at the weekend.

Sergio Ramos has claimed that La Liga referees can learn a lot from their Premier League counterparts after being sent off in Real Madrid's 3-0 win against Deportivo La Coruna.

The Spain international was shown two second-half yellows at Riazor on Sunday evening to earn the 18th dismissal of his Spanish top-flight career.

Ramos believes that he was once again hard done by, though, having picked up the second caution for elbowing Borja Valle following his earlier punishment when slapping Fabian Schar.

Speaking to reporters, he said: "In some areas we need to look more at English football and let the players play on more, I like their system better. In Europe referees are more tolerant.

"I don't agree with the [second] yellow card, it was harsh, but I respect the opinion of the referee. I have no intention of hurting him, I just supported myself, but you learn from everything. They ran after me, Schar headbutted me and all I did was push him out the way without trying to hurt him."

Ramos has also been shown five red cards in other competitions - three in the Champions League and two in the Copa del Rey - making him Real's most sent-off player by some distance.