Sergio Ramos lucky not to give away penalty against Man City

An image that is worth a thousand words. And this image illustrates that Sergio Ramos was lucky not to give a penalty away in the last minute of Real Madrid’s Champions League win over Manchester City. A penalty which, if given, could have seen the English team score the away goal they needed to reach the Champions League final. But the Slovenian referee Damir Skomina did not see the infraction. Or he didn’t want to see it. 

The incident occurred in the final moments of Wednesday’s semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. Man City launched the ball forward to the Madrid penalty area. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas came out with very little conviction. From behind him, Sergio Ramos appeared. The Madrid captain’s hand came flying out and struck the ball. It looked like a penalty, but the referee, fortunately for Madrid, didn’t give it. 

Previously, Skomina had already let Sergio Ramos off for a clash with Sergio Aguero, a clear demonstration that the Spain international is one of the most protected players by officials. Both in Spain and in Europe - despite his impressive collection of red cards.