Football
Dermot CorriganIan Holyman 10y

Sergio Ramos questions Real Madrid fans whistling during Basel win

Sergio Ramos told AS that Iker Casillas is "not a robot" and is obviously affected by being regularly whistled by the Real Madrid fans, but Karim Benzema insisted he does not have a problem after he too was targeted.

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Casillas, 33, had said the fans were "entitled to complain" after he was whistled during the league defeat to Atletico at the weekend, and he was again barracked during Madrid's 5-1 Champions League Group B win over Basel on Tuesday evening.

Ramos said that, as a Madrid fan, he would never be able to whistle a player who had given so much to the Bernabeu cause during 15 years in the first team.

"In football there are always good moments and bad moments, and you learn from the mistakes that are made," the Spain defender said. "Iker lives with it. He knows that everyone is not going to like him. He is not a robot and it is normal that it affects him. As a madridista, a teammate and a friend of Iker I would not be able to [whistle him]. I would not do it."

Despite ending their long wait for the Champions League last season, there has been a sense of discontent among supporters after some controversial work in the transfer market this summer and disappointing results on the field in recent weeks, including a Super Cup loss to Atletico and a 4-2 defeat to Real Sociedad in La Liga.

Ramos, who has been a popular figure with Blancos fans over the years, was also jeered at one point against Basel when he ballooned a free kick over the bar with Madrid 4-1 ahead.

"It is true that the fans are a bit more sensitive [at the moment]," he said. "We really do not know why it happened again today when the team was winning. We understand that people come to the Bernabeu to disconnect and enjoy themselves, but maybe in this last week they have not gone home with the happiness they normally take.

"In this case, they demand something more -- that is where the whistles come from. Us players are nobody to criticise that. But in this sense, when Real Madrid push and everyone is together, this is a unique stadium."

Ramos said it was time for everyone around the club to pull together and move on ahead of Saturday's La Liga trip to Deportivo La Coruna.

"We do not need to talk more about what happened -- it is time to turn the page and move on," he said. "We must learn from the mistakes we have made in recent games and from there try to improve and work on the areas where we tend to have most problems.

"Now we want to put together a good run of wins, which is what will change the thinking of the fans. That would also give us much more confidence."

Benzema, meanwhile, insisted he is unconcerned about being a target for supporters.

The France international scored Madrid's 1,000th goal in European competition when firing to the top corner from the edge of the box on Tuesday but was again whistled by sections of the Bernabeu crowd prior to his strike.

"I'm at a big club," the France international, who had found the net just once in eight previous outings for club and country this season, was reported as saying by RMC. "They always expect a lot of me. I'm a Real Madrid striker, so I have to score in every game. That's the way it is.

"I was whistled at last year too. Iker Casillas has been whistled at. All the great players who have been here have been whistled at -- Ronaldo, Zidane. For me, it's not a problem. I'm going to continue working to change that. I'm happy with the win."

He added: "You can't worry about it. I've even been whistled at at the Stade de France. I don't get worried about it."

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