Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos has insisted that he did not mean to 'cause harm' to Atletico Madrid's Mario Mandzukic in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final.

In the second half of the first leg, Mandzukic picked up a blow to his nose in an aerial challenge with Ramos, which led to the forward leaving the field on several occasions.

Mandzukic was furious with what he perceived to be an intentional elbow, but Ramos has denied that he meant to injure the Croatian.

"I'm not going to get into any assessments of it, that's what the referee is there for. Sometimes they get it wrong and others they get it right. It's a passage of play in which I'm moving backwards and I collide with him, but at no time do I go in with the intention of causing harm," Ramos told Real Madrid's official website.

The tie is delicately poised ahead of the second leg following a goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon.