Ramos proves the Real deal again for Madrid

Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos wrote himself indelibly into his club’s history by scoring the opening goal and then deservedly winning the player of the tournament award in Saturday’s 2-0 Club World Cup final win over San Lorenzo of Argentina.

Madrid’s victory over the competitive but limited Copa Libertadores holders capped a year in which Los Blancos have won four trophies — adding to the Copa Del Rey, Champions League, European Supercup. It was also, quite amazingly, their 22nd consecutive victory in all competitions, a historic run stretching all the way back to late September.

Saturday’s final was not the most difficult of those games, unsurprisingly given the gap in club budgets (San Lorenzo €8m, Madrid €541m). The La Liga club had also clearly decided to take the competition more seriously than English clubs have in the past.