Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos says that he "must accept" he will face abuse from fans of his former club after his latest return to the Sanchez Pizjuan saw him score an own goal as Sevilla came back to win 2-1 and end Madrid's 40-game record unbeaten run on Sunday night.
Ramos has had a complicated relationship with Sevilla supporters since leaving for Madrid in 2005 and was insulted by factions of his old club's fans during Thursday's 3-3 Copa del Rey draw -- with the Seville-born Spain international apologising for a gesture made to the crowd after he converted a late penalty with a "Panenka."
The build-up to his latest trip home saw Sevilla ask La Liga's authorities to sanction Ramos for that gesture, and Madrid react by offering "complete support" to their skipper. The Andalusian was whistled during the warm-up and every time he touched the ball.
Speaking in the mixed zone afterwards, Ramos said he did not like what had happened but had tried to ignore it while he "played a great game."
"From the moment I came out on the pitch I tried to ignore it all," Ramos said. "The [own] goal was one of those things that can happen in the game. On a personal level I played a great game, one of the best I have played here at the Pizjuan.
"Clearly I cannot change the reality of the situation and must accept it as it is. I would have liked to be received in a different way, but I am not going to change how I am because of some of them. I am very happy and satisfied with my attitude. As captain I felt the love of my own team and my fans. I will say no more about this. If there are violent people, measures should be taken."
Ramos said the atmosphere inside the stadium had made it more difficult for his team, but he was proud of how they had stood up and dominated the game almost until the end.
"It was difficult, but you must be proud of the game the team played, dominating almost all the game," he said. "The last 10 minutes was not our best moment, we did not know how to manage the situation in a difficult place like this with the fans adding to the pressure. We are proud of our unbeaten run, and we remain top of the table. There are no doubts, we just turn the page and move on. There is not time to feel sorry for ourselves."
Asked about an apparent mistake from goalkeeper Keylor Navas in failing to stop Stevan Jovetic's late winner for Sevilla, Ramos said there was no need to point fingers at any individual for an error.
"I haven't seen it yet, but we must look at it calmly, there's no need to point fingers at anybody," he said. "When we win we all win together, and when we lose the same. We must be proud of the game we played, dominating clearly in the first half but we did not kill the game in the second."
Speaking on Movistar TV after the final whistle, Madrid's director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno said the club captain's performance had showed his "enormous personality" and character.
"Sergio played a sensational game, showed enormous personality," the former Madrid forward said. "He showed how great he is. Then he had the misfortune to score the own goal. But we loved his presence and character in a game which was not easy."
Así fue el 'marcaje' de la afición sevillista a Sergio Ramos, y así fue su partido. Llega 'El Sergiómetro' ➡ https://t.co/KJdbDuvFjx pic.twitter.com/BADh08lMTZ
- MARCA (@marca) January 16, 2017
Local press coverage of the game included a "Sergiometro" graphic created by Marca, which it claims measured the decibel levels inside stadium at various moments from warm-up (89db), when he carried ball out of defence in the first half (102 db) through to Ramos' own goal (101 db) and delight on the final whistle (105 db).
Marca's cameras also captured footage of fans outside the stadium an hour after the game yelling insults at Ramos as he chatted with Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli and greeted other club staff before boarding the Madrid team bus.