'Pure filth': Ramos slammed over 'deliberate' Messi fouls

Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos has been savaged by fans after two unsavoury incidents with Lionel Messi overshadowed Barcelona’s El Clasico win.

Ramos concedes his side cannot realistically expect to catch Barcelona in the LaLiga title race but denied deliberately clashing with Messi in the 1-0 loss.

Ivan Rakitic’s first half goal proved enough to give Barcelona the win at the Santiago Bernabeu, leaving them 12 points clear of their rivals on the top of the table.

But it was Ramos and Messi that stole the show after several fiery confrontations in a pulsating first half.

The first flashpoint occurred when Messi skipped past two defenders before Ramos threw out a trailing back leg to deliberately trip his rival.

The Barcelona ace was clearly riled by the incident as he confronted Ramos head-on to convey his anger.

Viewers were also quick to condemn Ramos on social media.

Incredibly, the pair weren’t finished after that initial confrontation.

Ramos again earned the ire of supporters just before halftime, when he caught Messi in the face with an elbow many viewers also thought was deliberate.

Ramos, no stranger to disciplinary controversy, denied he had set out to hurt Messi, however.

“I didn’t mean to catch Messi, but he took it badly,” Ramos told Movistar, with the result coming at the end of a week in which Madrid lost 3-0 to their rivals in the Copa del Rey.

“It’s a shame that we’re gone [from the title race] and the distance is so big, but we’re going to keep fighting because everything is possible. We congratulate them on the result. We played well but it was not enough.

“It has been two very intense matches, with a very high level of effort, it is obvious, we have not had much time to recover, they do not either, so it is not an excuse for us.”

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had little to do but he was given no chance by Rakitic’s excellent finish.

And the Belgium international feels Madrid’s lack of goal threat, having failed to score in either Clasico this week, proved costly.

“I think we played well,” he told Movistar. “Barca had more chances and they scored. To win the game you have to do that.

“I would not say [the lack of goals] is a problem. Sometimes we were just missing the final ball and there were also two blocks from [Clement] Lenglet.

“We played well in both games. The only thing is that we didn’t score. If you do not score, you lose.”

With agencies