Valverde played over 40 minutes injured as Real Madrid face three away games in a week
Real Madrid came away from Camp Nou on Sunday night with three points and a new fitness worry. José Mourinho revealed after the 2-1 win over Barcelona that Fede Valverde had spent a large part of the game carrying an injury, and the timing is far from ideal with three away fixtures to come in the space of seven days.
The coach went out of his way to single out the Uruguayan in his post-match press conference, saying Valverde “played injured for more than 40 minutes”. Mourinho added: “He got injured, wanted to continue, pushed himself to his limits, and gave everything while he was on the field.”
No details yet on Valverde’s problem
Mourinho did not say what kind of injury Valverde had suffered or at what point in the match it happened. At the time of writing, Real Madrid had not published a medical report on the midfielder, who was named in the starting XI alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni, Bernardo Silva and Jude Bellingham.
The club’s English account still made him one of the faces of the night, sharing a Valverde post shortly after midnight.
Lunin answers the call as Courtois misses out
Valverde was not the only fitness story of the weekend. Thibaut Courtois dropped out on matchday because of what the club called a flu-like illness, with Illia Voloshyn called up as cover. Andriy Lunin started in goal and, according to Real Madrid’s own match report, made a fine stop from a Gerard Martín header in the 66th minute.
Mourinho said his only message to Lunin before kick-off was simple: “You train to play, not to sit on the bench. Go and play.” He also stressed that the squad had not been rattled by the late change, adding that “today none of us cried before the match because Thibaut wasn’t playing”. Courtois, whose future has been discussed in terms of a possible one-year contract extension, now has a few days to recover before the next game.
Three trips in a week
The calendar offers Madrid little breathing space. Mourinho pointed out that “on Sunday we play away; then we play away on Wednesday, and then we have another away match on Saturday”. According to the fixture list, those games are against Racing Santander on 1 November, AEK Athens in the Champions League on 4 November and Valencia on 7 November.
That run is where Mourinho’s faith in his squad will be tested. He insisted after the Clásico that “I have a rich bench, with players who can be starters”, and he backed it up at Camp Nou by leaving Eduardo Camavinga among the substitutes days after his strong display in the 4-1 win over RB Leipzig. Camavinga came on and set up the late winner for Kylian Mbappé.
The victory was Madrid’s fifth in a row and, as Mourinho noted, leaves them three points behind Barcelona rather than six or nine. Keeping that momentum through three away games will be far easier with Valverde available, so the club’s next medical update on the midfielder will be closely watched before the trip to Santander.
