Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer diving to his right to catch Sergio Ramos' second penalty in the 80th minute at St Jakob Park, after foiling the Spain captain's first attempt in the 57th minute of their Nations League match.

BASEL (Switzerland) • Spain captain Sergio Ramos is used to grabbing headlines for the right and wrong reasons.

He did just that on Saturday against Switzerland, becoming the most capped European player and then the first Spain player to miss two penalties in a game.

Ramos broke Italy great Gianluigi Buffon’s record by making his 177th appearance in the Nations League A Group 4 match, which ended 1-1, yet another feat in a career that has seen him win every major trophy for club and country.

The defender made his mark on the occasion, ending a remarkable run of scoring 25 successive penalties by missing two in the second half while producing a goal-line clearance to prevent forward Haris Seferovic from making it 2-0.

Ramos could have scored in open play late in the game only to miss, but Gerard Moreno did find an equaliser at St Jakob Park to avert what would have been a second consecutive Nations League defeat for the visitors after last month’s 1-0 loss to Ukraine.

But Spain coach Luis Enrique said that Ramos’ botched spot-kicks would not affect his captain, insisting his record from the spot remains “out of this world”.

“Sergio’s numbers when it comes to taking penalties are in the reach of few players,” said the 50-year-old.

“If we had got a third penalty or a fourth one, he would have taken them as well. He had scored his last 25, but football has moments like these.”

Despite his primary role as the leader of the backline, Ramos is considered to be the first-choice penalty taker for both Real Madrid and Spain.

He has turned penalty taking into an art in the last two years, with his previous miss coming when he hit the crossbar in Madrid’s 3-2 defeat by Sevilla in May 2018.

The 34-year-old has confessed to relishing the high-stakes situation, scoring a number of crucial spot-kicks in Real’s run to the La Liga title last season as well as netting from the spot in last month’s 3-1 Clasico win at Barcelona.

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    Successful penalty kicks in a row scored by Spain’s Sergio Ramos before his two misses against Switzerland.

But he finally met his match in Yann Sommer, who guessed the right way to parry his first penalty early in the second half and then refused to be fooled by Ramos’ Panenka routine.

Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper Sommer told local broadcaster SRF that he had done his homework.

“I’ve come up against Ramos in the Champions League recently (Real drew 2-2 with the Bundesliga side last month), so that means I’ve been previously engaged in preparing for his penalties,” he said. “I think he wanted to chip the second one, but it worked out well for me.”

Ramos’ teammates are backing him to bounce back.

“It’s a real shame that Ramos missed the penalties because he’s usually so good,” added Spain and RB Leipzig midfielder Dani Olmo.

“But he’s very strong mentally and I’m sure that the next time he takes a penalty, he’ll score.”

Spain will now have to beat Germany, who are ahead by a point on nine, in Sevilla tomorrow to reach the last four of the Nations League.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

Last modified: November 16, 2020