Sergio Ramos says he hopes that international teammate Gerard Pique is not whistled by Real Madrid supporters during Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Italy at the Bernabeu.
Pique has been regularly barracked for more than two years while playing for Spain, due to comments about Madrid made in June 2015.
Since then the World Cup and European Championship winner has had to deal with negative attention at all home games, with the issue also reportedly linked to his perceived support for Catalan independence from Spain.
“I don’t want them to whistle Pique, or anyone else,” he said. “You must always respect the players who defend our badge and our country, and Pique is one of them.
“We want the fans’ support, it will be a difficult and tense game. We want to do well, it is a perfect stage for this game.”
Ramos also said it was clear Asensio was already ready for great things, but everyone should have patience and not weigh the youngster down with too much expectation.
“[Asensio] is already a great player, that is not news anymore,” Ramos said. “He is still very young so we must leave him alone and not put stones in his rucksack. He has natural talent and players like that are always good for our squad.
“[Madrid coach Zinedine] Zidane loves to manage the rotations, he did it very well last year, and it is important to keep that competition for places. Marco, Lucas [Vazquez], [Mateo] Kovacic… when they come in they do very well. But we must leave him alone and others should also pull their weight.”
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