The villain of the Champions League Final may have been nothing more than a mere scapegoat.
Sergio Ramos' 'tackle' on Mohammed Salah ended up injuring arguably Liverpool's best player and forced him off after 25 minutes and put his World Cup hopes in doubt, but Gary Breen says that most defenders would have done the same thing in that situation.
"Every centre-half, 9 out of 10, would have done what Ramos did and took advantage to put him down".
"There's no way you, in that split second, believe that he's going to dislocate his shoulder or crack his collar bone, but it's a little marker you're going to put down on him, that's what you're probably thinking more often than not as a centre-half. If you've got him and you're going to be able to land on top of him then you're going to take that advantage, of course you are".
Breen went on to praise Ramos and his performance, noting the play-acting Ramos was involved in when he fell to the ground under a slight glance from Sadio Mane's hand, but claimed that such actions are commonplace in Spain, and those that follow the Premier League simply aren't used to it.
"He's an uncompromising defender, I think he's a fabulous defender, the only thing that annoys me at times is his histrionics when he gets the nearest of touches, but that's something that's the case in La Liga. We saw the great Pep Guardiola Barcelona team and they were unbelievable at it, you couldn't even touch Sergio Busquets without him going down".
"Ramos, I thought he was incredible on the evening. I'd identified that he'd be vulnerable against Salah and the fact that Marcelo would be in advanced positions and that he'd have to engage Salah as he got through the gears. He's not as quick as he once was but he was just so dominant".
Breen again dismissed the idea that Ramos had intentionally gone into the challenge to injure Salah, and claimed that the nature of the tackle itself has been blown out of proportion.
"I wouldn't attribute any blame as such. The way you guys were talking it was as if it was something Brian O'Driscoll would have experienced on the Lions tour. There's no way Ramos knew that was going to be the outcome".
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