Ramos: We're a vintage Real Madrid team

Joe Wright

Ramos: We're a vintage Real Madrid team image

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos believes the Champions League finalists will go down in history for their achievements under Zinedine Zidane.

The Liga giants face Liverpool on Saturday in the final in Kiev, the third in a row they have reached under their French coach.

Madrid are the only team to have won the competition in its modern format in consecutive seasons and have lifted eight trophies in total since Zidane took charge in January 2016.

Ramos is now looking ahead to his fourth final in five years, which is in stark contrast to his first five seasons at the club, during which time they failed to progress beyond the last 16.

The 32-year-old credited Zidane for fostering a positive dressing room – what he perceives as a major change from his early years at the Santiago Bernabeu – while creating a "vintage" Madrid team.

"It's a privilege and a prize to be able to come back and play another final, and the possibility of winning the trophy again is very important to us," he told the media.

"It seems like we've been gifted another final but the truth is that it's very difficult to get here. We've made the difficult easy and it seems like we're going to reach the Champions League final every year, and that's not the case.

"It's very difficult to do what we do and I think we're a vintage team. I've spent many years at Real Madrid and there were a few seasons where we didn't even scratch a ball in Europe.

"It's also important to have the stability that exists at this club. When I came, there was a lot of changing of coaches and presidents. The dressing room was divided and that's never good.

"Now, there's a really good atmosphere, we're all in it together and that's one of the keys to this team's success. There are no egos."

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.