Marcelo laments after Shakhtar's 0-3.Manu Fernandez / AP
It does not matter the entity of the rival or how they go to the game, with everyone healthy or with a sick half staff, every time a European team faces a Madrid without Sergio Ramos they find paradise.
The Shakhtar, with a dozen casualties from coronavirus, was the latest example.
The Ukrainians punished a white defender as pale as his jersey.
The Sevillian center-back, dressed in a military green jacket and gray pants, attended another blackout without him from the last row of the Valdebebas stands.
As in Manchester two months ago, his voice was heard and felt again in the midst of the silence and astonishment of Di Stéfano, but his warnings did not prevent the blow.
Photogallery: Real Madrid - Shakhtar, in pictures
The statistics are too strong to believe in fancy numbers.
Of the last eight Champions League matches that Madrid have not had their captain, seven ended in a sinister.
The list of accidents includes rivals and scenarios of all types and conditions.
RMA
two
-
3
SHA
Real MadridCourtois, Marcelo, Eder Militao, Varane, Ferland Mendy, Casemiro, Federico Valverde, Modric (Kroos, min. 69), Rodrygo (Benzema, min. 45), Jovic (Vinicius Junior, min. 58) and Marco AsensioShakhtarAnatolii Trubin, Valerii Bondar, Viktor Korniienko, Davit Khocholova, Dodo, Maycon de Andrade Barberan, Marcos Bahía (Bogdan V'Yunnik, min. 93), Marlos, Mateus, Manor Soloman (Vitão, min. 91) and Dentinho (Heorhii Sudakov, min. 85)
Goals0-1 min.
28: Mateus.
0-2 min.
32: Varane (pp).
0-3 min.
41: Manor Soloman.
1-3 min.
53: Modric.
2-3 min.
58: Vinicius Junior.
Referee Srdjan Jovanovic Yellow cards Viktor Korniienko (min. 7), Marco Asensio (min. 33), Valerii Bondar (min. 82) and Eder Militao (min. 86)
Apart from what happened this Wednesday, the most recent episode occurred at the Etihad Stadium, last August, in the second round of the last Champions League.
The company was delicate, going back 1-2 of the first leg (Ramos was sent off in the final stage at the Bernabéu), however, his absence was lethal in view of the events.
Varane, a serene man who had a good season, left his worst encounter with Madrid with two rude mistakes that paved the way for the
Citizens
(2-1).
This Wednesday, against Shakhtar, he left another own goal, the third in his entire career as a target.
That Champions League had begun in Paris with the shaking (3-0) of a very shaven PSG, without Neymar, Mbappé and Cavani, who mistreated Madrid without their captain.
He did not play in the Parc des Princes because UEFA had imposed a two-match sanction on him for acknowledging that he had forced the yellow in the first leg of the round of 16 of the previous edition (2018/19) against Ajax.
The center-back interpreted in Amsterdam that the 1-2 that his team was achieving was enough to overcome the tie and reach the quarters.
Nothing further, because what came was disaster (1-4).
From documentary to disaster
Taking advantage of his absence, the night of the return Ramos filmed part of his documentary with Amazon.
"Think that you pass this game and you are five away from being European champion," a friend told him on the way to the stadium, as captured by the film.
To which the defenseman warned him: “Again.
He is important again ”.
That meeting began by watching in a box with his relatives and ended in the locker room tunnel contemplating how an effervescent Ajax swallowed a Madrid, trained by Santiago Solari, who was living his tragic week (without options in seven days of the League , Cup and Champions).
"Fuck me, this is incredible," he exclaimed before interrupting the recording with 0-3.
That season he was also absent in the two league games against CSKA, which ended in defeat (1-0 in Moscow and 0-3 in Madrid).
Disasters in these two years of few European joys in the white club and morrocotudos scares also without him in the times of glory.
In 2017/18, the year of the thirteenth, Zidane's team brought Turin 0-3 after a vintage volley from Ronaldo.
And also the yellow card number 222 of his captain, which made him miss the return.
The fact was then seen as good news because it allowed him to access the semifinals clean.
The Italian comeback seemed like a chimera, however, the
bianconeros
went 0-3 and only a penalty from Benatia over Lucas Vázquez in the 95th minute prevented a historic turnaround.
Of the last eight European meetings without Ramos, Madrid were only able to win in Bruges last year (1-3), an inconsequential clash.
Shakhtar is the latest episode of a fatal absence for Madrid.