At a press conference held on Wednesday, Madrid defender Sergio Ramos publicly apologized for his behavior in the match with Barcelona.
At the end of the battle of the Spanish giants, Ramos' nerves failed him.
Initially, the defender, along with Lassana Diarra, aggressively attacked and fouled Lionel Messi. Referee Iturralde Gonzalez immediately showed the Spanish player a red card, but this did not calm down the emotions.
When a teammate of the fallen player tried to defend him, "Barcelona" players unexpectedly faced the aggressive response of the "Real" player. Enraged, Ramos grabbed Carles Puyol by the face and pushed him. The expelled defender poured out his anger on Xavi, as the television cameras captured Ramos hitting the "Barcelona" defender in the face.
Meanwhile, the advantage of the hosts at "Camp Nou" was already convincing - 5-0.
"I feel bad. I made a mistake by attacking Messi in that way. However, I want to emphasize that I never seek to harm opponents on the field," said the player.
Ramos also apologized for his behavior to Barcelona captain Puyol and defender Xavi. Ramos plays together with both of these players in the Spanish national team, which won the world championship this summer.
"I am not satisfied with my behavior. I acted disrespectfully towards Puyol and Xavi, so I also apologized to them," explained the "Real" defender.
The Barcelona captain was not inclined to emphasize the incident on the field.
"Emotions sometimes overflow on the field, but what happens here stays between us. I continue to get along well with Sergio," said Puyol.
However, Ramos will still have to answer for his actions in the match with Barcelona. He has received a one-match suspension, so the defender will not appear on the field in the weekend match against Valencia.
The episode when Ramos received a red card: