(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 24, 2019 Real Madrid’s Spanish defender Sergio Ramos celebrates after scoring a penalty during the Spanish Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) quarter-final first leg football match between Real Madrid CF and Girona FC at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. – Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos has been given two-game European ban for deliberate booking, AFP reported on February 28, 2019. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)
NYON, Switzerland — Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has been banned for an additional Champions League game for deliberately provoking a yellow card to control the timing of a one-game suspension.
UEFA says its disciplinary panel found Ramos guilty of “clearly receiving a yellow card on purpose” against Ajax two weeks ago.
He will now also miss the first leg of the quarterfinals if Madrid advances from the round of 16.
The Spain defender was booked for a foul in the 90th minute of Madrid’s 2-1 win in Amsterdam in the first leg.
That triggered a one-game ban for the second leg at home, which would have cleaned Ramos’s disciplinary slate for the quarterfinals.
Ramos reportedly acknowledged his intentions in a post-game interview, then retracted it in a Twitter post.