Bayern Munich legend recalls intense battle with Real Madrid: ‘Pepe and Ramos wanted to kill me’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are always high-voltage affairs, but few have been as emotionally charged as the 2014 Champions League semi-final.

While Los Blancos famously stormed the Allianz Arena with a 4-0 victory on their way to La Decima, the match also involved a fiery flare-up between Franck Ribery and Dani Carvajal.

Ribery, who is known for never backing down from a fight, recalled the tension that boiled over in Munich that night. Frustrated by the scoreline and the marking, he lashed out at Real Madrid’s right-back, eventually slapping him.

Ribery recalls slapping Carvajal

Eleven years later, Ribery has recently recalled that moment and the repercussions he faced after slapping Carvajal.

“I yelled at Carvajal and ended up slapping him,” he confessed in a recent interview (h/t MARCA), before revealing that he had to face severe repercussions.

Ribery had to deal with a lot of animosity from Ramos and Pepe after the incident. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Ribery revealed that Real Madrid’s centre-backs, Sergio Ramos and Pepe, took it upon themselves to defend their teammate, turning their attention squarely on the Frenchman.

“From then on, Ramos and Pepe decided to make my life miserable,” he admitted. “They looked at me like they wanted to kill me every time I touched the ball.”

“The game became a matter of survival. Pepe wasn’t going for the ball anymore; he was chasing me,” he said, describing the ‘savage’ nature of facing that Madrid side. “With them, there was no truce. Not a second’s respite.”

Despite the bad blood that night, the story has a peaceful ending. Three years later, when the two European giants met again in the 2017 quarter-finals, Ribery and Carvajal made peace.

Carvajal, who will play a key role for Spain in the upcoming World Cup, chose to bury the hatchet publicly. The Spanish defender shared a photo on social media of himself and Ribery embracing during the game