Sergio Ramos became the player with more red cards in the history of La Liga when he was sent off in Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw with Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.
It was a miserable night in the rain for Zinedine Zidane’s team as they failed to make up ground on Barcelona who had dropped two points earlier on Saturday.
And it was Ramos red-card bingo as they struggled to break down Athletic’s stubborn defence. First there was his early booking for an elbow on Raul Garcia, then came another close call when he tried to take Iñaki Williams shirt off over his head, then came the heavy rain and the nerves of Madrid failing to score. And finally the late second caution for an arm up as he jumped.
Real captain Sergio Ramos continued to wear a protective mask on his face after breaking his nose during a game last month
Ramos battled against Bilbao’s Spanish forward Aritz Aduriz, who has scored nine goals in all competitions so far this season
That battle ended when Ramos was shown a second yellow card — and therefore a red — for catching Aduriz with his elbow
Ramos trudged off the field in the 86th minutes of the match after being shown the 19th red card of his La Liga career
Replays showed it was harsh and there was far less contact than Aritz Aduriz had made out as he went down clutching his face. Ramos argued with referee Mateu Lahoz before he made the long walk off the pitch.
But it will go down as his record-breaking 19th red in the league and his 24th in all competitions for his club.
Real Madrid could have taken the lead as early as seven minutes when Isco crossed from the left and Benzema took the ball on his chest and volleyed on to the post.
Then came that clumsy elbow from Ramos on Raul Garcia who spent the rest of the night trying to provoke another caution.
Cristiano Ronaldo had his first chance on the quarter hour but blasted his free-kick wide. He came into this game with a goal a game record against Athletic of 16 in 16 meetings although he had not scored at the New San Mames in four visits and he was to stretch that sorry run to five.
Toni Kroos was the next to test Athletic keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with a shot from the edge of the area.
All eyes were on Kepa with Madrid debating the value of recruiting him in January when he will have just six months left on his contract.
Keylor Navas still has his backers at Madrid however, and he got down very well to keep out Iñaki Williams’ low shot as the action continued at both ends.
Aduriz was earlier presented with a chance to score his 10th goal of the campaign but his close-range effort was off target
Real’s French international frontman Karim Benzema (right) was watched closely by Bilbao defender Oscar De Marcos
Benzema — who is having a tough season, especially in La Liga — looked frustrated after missing a chance to score a goal
Cristiano Ronaldo also cut a frustrated figure as he and his Real team-mates struggled to break down the Bilbao backline
Ramos then risked a second first-half yellow by in a tussle with Williams but the referee acted only to tick-off Williams for his protests.
It was Athletic who started the brighter in the second half and Navas had to save well from Aduriz. Raul Garcia stumbled dramatically in the box but referee Lahoz waved away the appeals.
Ronaldo continued to take the fight to Athletic but he had another disappointing night in front of goal. He is due to be voted Balon d’Or by France Football next Thursday. These are strange days for him though. He was involved plenty and yet there was not a single pass played between himself and Karim Benzema in the first half and he clearly misses Gareth Bale who a least looks to run beyond rival defences, stretching them and creating space.
The rain was coming down harder now and Athletic seemed to relish the chance of taking a point from the game more than ever. Ronaldo hit the post from distance but Madrid were struggling to create clear-cut chances. Ramos was taking his mask off every time he attacked a corner but he was not getting his head on any of the set-pieces and Madrid were heading for a third straight failure to win on their travels.
Ronaldo kept trying and he saw Kepa save one header from Marcelo’s cross before he headed another Marcelo cross wide but the goal would not come.
What did come was Ramos’ second yellow and he will now miss Real Madrid’s meeting with Sevilla – thanks to this draw his team are on the same amount of points as next week’s rivals. And still eight points off the lead.
Star man Ronaldo was wasteful with his shooting and did not test Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga regularly enough
Real head coach Zinedine Zidane got very animated on the touchline and was seen shouting instructions towards his players
Bilbao boss Kuko Ziganda spent lots of time on his feet too as his team bounced back following a shock loss to Formentera
The contest was scrappy at times but always competitive. Marcelo went down before Inaki Williams offered him a hand