Ramos miss could be a hit for Real

If the fate of an entire season, a career-defining moment in Europe’s elite competition and the possibility of a third final with different teams rested on one accurate spot-kick, you probably wouldn’t want Sergio Ramos eyeing the penalty spot. While rightly noting after Real Madrid had lost a shoot-out to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night that those who miss are “those with balls,” José Mourinho will have rued Ramos being handed one.

The defender has only scored one penalty for Real, in a Liga game last season, and Mourinho’s reaction when he saw the Sevillian pluck the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo’s hand that day was instructive: “Why? Why is he going to take it?” the Portuguese was seen to exhort.

There was grim inevitability to the scene on Wednesday. Manuel Neuer did what goalkeepers do, asking that Ramos re-spot the ball and then patting the crossbar with his colossal gloved paws, not even straining to meet the 2.44-meter frame. Ramos duly belted the ball about 20 meters higher than that, almost threatening to dislodge a Bayern fan from the heights behind the north stand goal where celebrations erupted with the lighting of flares and Teutonic taunting.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, who told a German newspaper that he had lost his balls on the way to the spot but managed to relocate them before taking his kick, beat the unfortunate Iker Casillas who had saved two penalties to throw Real a lifeline following misses from Ronaldo and Kaká. The scene was set for a press conference from the top drawer. Who would Mourinho blame? Which authority would draw the Portuguese’s wrath?

The one thing in my mind was that I want to win the Champions League with this club”

In the end, nobody. The Real coach simply pointed out an obvious truth: Bayern, out of the Bundesliga running, had rested most of its stars at the weekend. His own side, battling Barça for the title at Camp Nou in what turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory, had no such luxury and ran themselves into the ground. With the league title, intimated Mourinho, the Champions League was dashed on a Munich-sized rock.

“The final will be contested by the fifth-placed English team and the second in Germany, who have been playing with their B teams while Barcelona and Real Madrid had to play the most important game of the season on Saturday,” Mourinho said after the match.

“When I said they had to change the calendar in Italy and they did it I was pleased. Here in Spain I don’t command the same respect, power or value of opinions. Barça played a derby and two days later they were knocked out. It isn’t easy. That’s why you have to really value teams who win doubles or trebles.” A reasonable argument, but one that holds little water for teams of more limited means. However, Mourinho suggested he would be willing to go through it all again next season, apparently quashing speculation over a return to England that would have grown in the case of European victory.

“The one thing in my mind was that I want to win [the Champions League] with this club,” he said. “If the club and the players think I can continue to give something to this, and I get the impression they do, I will continue.”

There will be some issues to address during the summer, notably that of Kaká, who put in a rancid 45-minute performance that drew scowls of displeasure from his coach.

Despite a promising start to the season, the Brazilian has failed to justify even a fraction of his 60-million-euro transfer fee and Florentino Pérez would do well to exploit AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani’s fondness for re-signing players in an attempt to recoup a third of that.

Another factor of interest to Mourinho will be Pep Guardiola’s contract situation. The Barcelona coach has still to put pen to paper as speculation grows rife of his imminent departure. Will Barça be the same force without him? Will ageing players like Xavi and Carles Puyol continue to meet their own impeccable standards? Is a treble on the cards next year? Mourinho seems amenable to finding out the answers.

Ramos’ comedy spot kick might yet hand Real the last laugh.