Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has been the talk of social media for his on-field behavior during Saturday's El Clasico versus Barcelona at Estasio Santiago Bernabeu, with social media users quick to condemn the player.
The second El Clasico in the space of only four days started slowly with neither side offering much to threaten the other at the start of the game at Santiago Bernabeu.
That all changed on 26 minutes Sergi Roberto set Ivan Rakitic through, leaving the Croatian to deftly chip the ball over Thibaut Courtois to send the visitors into the lead.
Barca captain Lionel Messi, the star of football’s greatest spectacle in the absence of great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, went close on 37 minutes with a free kick, firing just over the bar with the weight of expectation and anxiety almost palpable.
Tempers frayed when Sergio Ramos, often the villain of the play, was adjudged to elbow Messi while attempting to clear the ball. Social media inevitably erupted into apoplexy.
Messi seemed to certainly think the elbow was intentional, and was joined in agreement by social media users, but Ramos simply insisted there was no intent to harm the Argentine.