In the festive markets of Barcelona, Sergio Ramos is a popular figurine in the Catalan tradition of Caganers.
These statuettes of famous personalities — many from the world of football — on the toilet are popular around this time of year. Put politely, a Caganer means “The Merry Fertilizer” and they are placed in nativity scenes in towns and cities.
According to regional lore, the fertile deposits in the earth round the crib make for a rich and productive coming year. They also bring good health and calm to the body and soul.
Ramos himself, unlike the plaster version, is not popular in Catalonia. He is a hero at Real Madrid, a club he joined from his hometown of Sevilla in 2005. He has played almost 500 games in white, scoring over 60 goals, an incredible amount for a defender.
Many have been vital, late, headed efforts, the most famous being the 93rd minute equaliser which took the 2014 Uefa Champions League final into extra time, which Madrid won.
Ramos is in form with his head again. His late equaliser in the Camp Nou last week not only preserved Madrid’s unbeaten record which now stands at 35 games, but it also reinforced his status among fans.
On Sunday in the Bernabeu, he did it yet again, heading a 92nd minute goal which won the game against the ever-exciting Deportivo La Coruna.
There is a certain inevitability when he goes forward. His teammates know it, the crowd knows it and even sang ‘Ramos is going to score’, and he knows it. He has even had the number 90+ tattooed on his knuckles, which he showed off to his 9 million followers on social media.
Ramos is one of the best central defenders in the world and could be crowned world champion with Real Madrid over the next week in Japan. They play their first game on Thursday against Mexican side Club America as they seek to progress to Sunday’s final in Yokohama, where Ramos as captain is the favourite to lift the trophy.
If the Ballon d’Or award went to players other than forwards, he would be a sure-fire candidate. Before he flew to Japan, Cristiano Ronaldo won it for the fourth time this year and deserved to do so, but Ramos, who presented a chocolate golden ball cake to Ronaldo, is the fulcrum of the European champions, the legs of the swan kicking under the water so that the attacking triumvirate of Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema can produce the beauty and win the acclaim. Until they need Ramos to save them, that is.
Congratulations, @Cristiano. Well deserved!#ballondor pic.twitter.com/xSRuHln12v
Ramos knows his worth. While angling for a better contract, Madrid’s No 4 threatened to leave Madrid in 2015 and his brother spoke to Manchester United. The English club were prepared to vastly increase his Madrid wages to the point that if he had signed and told his teammates in the Spain squad how much he was earning, even more of them would have followed him to England.
Ramos was tempted by the money, but not by leaving Madrid where he lives and is loved.
United were used as a pawn and Ramos signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2020, when he will be 34. He will be a man forever associated with Madrid and rightly so. He has won two Champions Leagues with Madrid and three Primera Liga titles, though only one since 2008.
He hopes to add another this season. Madrid currently enjoy a six-point lead in the league, but first is the small matter of becoming world champions in Japan. And then making sure that his side don’t collapse, as they did after winning the Champions League and World title in 2014. Top of the league in December, Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost three league games in February and March as Barcelona overtook them to win the league.
Valencia going from bad to worse
Not for the first time, Valencia are in a mess. In the calendar year of 2016, they have picked up only 38 points from a possible 126 using four different managers. That is relegation form.
Valencia have lost nine of their opening 15 matches and sit 17th, joint on 12 points with Sporting Gijón who are in the drop zone. Valencia haven’t won in seven and you have to go back to 1997/98 to find a Valencia side who started the season as badly as this one.
Within two years of that poor start, Valencia reached the first of two consecutive Champions League finals.
A repeat is implausible and their fans are furious. After the latest defeat, a 3-2 loss at Real Sociedad, Valencia hooligans attacked the team bus as it returned to their training ground. The players needed a police escort to leave the training ground and the attack was condemned by the club.
Captain Enzo Perez said that his team had hit “rock bottom” three weeks ago, but they keep getting worse. Fans have started to boo Singaporean owner Peter Lim. They expect far more from the club which sits fourth in Spain’s all-time league table. Last season’s 12th place finish was their lowest for thirty years. Valencia spent 1986/87 season in the second division.
Each of their new managers, including the latest Cesare Prandelli, has been greeted by fanfare, each has struggled to get to grips at a club riddled with internal politics, external politics and a rabid local media which benefits from numerous insider leaks. Managers who walk the corridors at the training ground find that people stop talking when they go by.
Yet Valencia have an owner who took over when they faced financial collapse, an owner who has put money in, but there are problems as deep as the foundations at their new stadium which has stood half-built and idle since 2009.
Prandelli, an experienced and respected manager, is pragmatic. “The league table never lies,” he said. “It’s a reflection of a team’s values.”
Valencia were supposed to play Real Madrid this weekend, a game which has been postponed given Madrid’s commitments in the World Club championships. It will mean that if Sporting pick up a point at home to Villarreal, Valencia will slip into the relegation zone.
Given Valencia’s current form, it is perhaps for the best that they don’t meet Madrid, a team they performed exceptionally well against a year ago under Gary Neville. The Englishman couldn’t get it right at the Mestalla. He became yet another manager to be shown the door while the club lurches from bad to worse.
Player of the week — Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
With Ronaldo rested, Lionel Messi took advantage to score twice as Barca beat bottom of the table Osasuna 3-0. Messi moved above Ronaldo to the top of the Pichichi chart with 11 goals. Luis Suarez scored to go joint second with Ronaldo. If Iniesta is behind him, Messi is the man.
Game of the week — Barcelona v Espanyol
Espanyol haven’t scored a first half goal since September, but they have lost only one of their seven away games and their defence is the fourth best in the league. An Andalusian derby between Sevilla and Malaga is another intriguing game, but while Malaga held Barca at Camp Nou, they are yet to win away.
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