Real Madrid and Spain captain Sergio Ramos have revealed that his family received “death threats” in the aftermath of the Champions League final against Liverpool.
Ramos, 32, was reacting to the treatment he received from fans who jeered and booed him throughout Spain’s 2-1 victory over England on Saturday at Wembley.
Los Blancos beat Jurgen Klopp’s side 3-1 in May to claim their third successive Champions League title, with Mohamed Salah being forced off with a shoulder injury midway through the first half following a challenge by Ramos.
Ramos was also involved in a collision with Loris Karius before the goalkeeper made two crucial mistakes for Madrid’s first and third goals, with some fans accusing the Spain international of deliberately injuring both players.
He told reporters in the mixed zone: “One tries to evade [the boos]. In the end you feel it, but I stay out of everything. It doesn’t affect my game.
“I would have liked another reception because people only remember the action of the final, and nobody remembers the death threats that my family and my children received.
“It is a very sensitive issue that people maybe take as a joke about and [that’s why they] whistle in a great stadium like this. My conscience is very clear. I already explained [what happened], and I do not have to give more explanations,”
Ramos has repeatedly denied trying to hurt Salah with the challenge that forced him out of the final and limited his participation with Egypt in the summer’s World Cup in Russia.
“You never expect a reception that is not good because, as I said the other day, if these [English] fans have something good, it is that they have always been with the great players. It has not been like that, but I am very calm, with my conscience very clear in that aspect.
“As I said before, I have never tried to hurt a colleague. There are people who may have misunderstood it, but these are football things. It will not change anything in my game or in me.”
Meanwhile, Ramos was full of praise for David De Gea after the Manchester United keeper made a string of fine saves to help Spain hang on to beat England and silence the critics following his disappointing World Cup campaign.
“He is a great goalkeeper. We have always said it,” Ramos said. “The big games are those that mark the great players. After a World Cup with many doubts, he deserved [a performance such as this].
“He is a great goalkeeper, and today he has [had] a great game, he has made some interventions that have marked the result of the game. Hopefully it is also a beginning, and that will help him to gain confidence because he is a key player for us.”