Sergio Ramos: It is painful to be eliminated

Sergio Ramos says the Real Madrid players are hurting having been knocked out of the Champions League by Juventus.

Needing to overcome a 2-1 deficit, Real were looking good after Cristiano Ronaldo gave them a first half lead. But former Los Blancos forward Alvaro Morata broke Real hearts with his 57th minute equaliser, which saw the Old Lady go through 3-2 overall. They will meet Barcelona in the final in Berlin next month.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Ramos said the players gave it their all but lost to the better team over two games.

“The team always fights to improve and win, and today we say goodbye to the chance of reaching another final. We were favourites to regain the title. Juve have shown they deserve to be in the final and we didn’t take our chances.

“They went through because they did things better. We played two games and we had chances in the first half to increase the lead. We were unable to take advantage and when you lack accuracy in front of goal you end up paying for it,” he said.

He added: “After a great game where we created a lot of clear chances, it is painful to be eliminated. The team did everything they could in this game.”

The centre back went on praise the Madrid support for creating a special atmosphere at the Bernabeu, commenting: “Once again today you could feel the great atmosphere. We go away feeling grateful and indebted for having been eliminated when we had passage through to the final in Berlin. They raised us up and encouraged us until the very last second. The reception upon our arrival at the stadium was impressive.”

And he had words of praise for Alvaro Morata, who showed how determined he was to reach the final with his new side.

“In the history of football there are other cases like that, like Morata or Morientes back in the day. I was not hoping he would have his best game here, but football presents these opportunities. He is a young guy who grew up here, he is a Madrid fan but he also wanted to be in Berlin.”