Real Madrid News
Real Madrid heavyweight set to return vs Athletic Club after recovering from head injury
After a couple of days off, Real Madrid players reconvened for training today at Valdebebas with an eye on their final game of the season against Athletic Club.
The Merengues take on the Basque club on Saturday night at the Santiago Bernabeu before bringing down the curtains on what has been a season to forget.
Federico Valverde set to return
Leading up to the game, AS reports that Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde will be back available to face Athletic Club on Saturday.
The Uruguayan has now completed his recovery period following his fight with Aurelien Tchouameni, an incident that ended with him being taken to the hospital to receive treatment for a head injury.
Valverde completed Real Madrid’s training session with the group on Wednesday at Valdebebas, and the club now consider the concussion protocol to be fully completed.
As such, the 27-year-old midfielder is fit again and will be available to play against Athletic Club this Saturday if Alvaro Arbeloa deems it appropriate.
Another player who has recovered is Andriy Lunin, who has now fully overcome his viral illness and will be available, although Thibaut Courtois is still expected to start.
As already reported, Arda Guler also participated in part of the session with the rest of the squad, but his involvement on Saturday remains highly unlikely.
Big game for Valverde
Having been the instigator in the incident that got out of hand and ended with a physical altercation, Valverde will be returning to play for the first time since the episode.
And, if he is cleared to play, it will be interesting to see how the Real Madrid fans greet him at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Uruguayan, after all, is all set to become the club captain next season, taking over from Dani Carvajal, who will play his final game for Real Madrid on Saturday.
Real Madrid News
Mourinho talks Carlos Espi, Diomande, Guler, Tchouameni, Atletico Madrid after Elche 2-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid found another way to win, but Jose Mourinho was hardly celebrating the manner of it.
Carlos Espi’s injury-time strike completed a 3-2 comeback against Elche, rescuing Madrid after they had surrendered control of a game that appeared to be in their hands.
For Mourinho, the result was welcome, but the performance raised a familiar concern.
“When everything seems easy and you let things slide, it’s dangerous. Then the team reacts and wins, but it’s not pleasant.
“The other good thing is that nobody gets bored with these matches. They’re fun,” he began saying.
Mourinho knows what is going wrong
The Portuguese coach was particularly frustrated by another drop in intensity after the interval.
Real Madrid had opportunities to put the game beyond Elche before allowing their advantage to disappear. Mourinho believes that pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
“It seems obvious to me. It’s easy to understand. These are games that are all but over, where we have chances to seal the deal but don’t. After failing to do so, we go from having it easy to losing control.
“If we play poorly from the first minute to the 90th, the concern is huge.
“If we have periods where we’re at our best and others where we’re not proactive, just waiting, lacking intensity… Of course it’s a concern. But we won.”
The win keeps Madrid moving, but Mourinho’s concern is less about the points than the way his team is repeatedly making matches unnecessarily complicated.
Carlos Espi again provided the decisive moment from the bench, although Mourinho knows breaking into the starting XI will be difficult with Mbappé ahead of him.
“He’s a guy who works hard and is very motivated,” Mourinho said.
He then added, “He’s up against a player who’s in a league of his own (Mbappe), and we’re well aware of that.”
Madrid derby comes at a delicate moment
Next up is Atletico Madrid, and Mourinho’s attention is already turning towards the derby.
Rather than focusing on the opposition, he remains concerned about his own side’s ability to manage matches.
“The only explanation I can find is that we can’t keep going like this. We misjudged the opportunities we had, and once they score a goal, everything changes,” explained the Real Madrid coach.
Meanwhile, there were positives to take from individual performances, as Mourinho praised Yan Diomande’s development after another energetic outing.
“He’s improving. Physically, you can tell he has more minutes under his belt. He has a great work ethic and intelligence—he’s done a great job.”
Mourinho refuses to call Guler indispensable
Arda Guler’s importance was also questioned after another fantastic performance, but Mourinho rejected the idea that any player is beyond replacement.
“No, no one is indispensable. We were losing control when I made the substitutions; Vini did a great job on defence, but he was very tired.
“And Arda, who was playing in the number 10 position, was also losing intensity.
“I brought in a fresh Jude and Brahim when we were down 0-2, but I could sense we were losing control. That’s how it goes for us. And then, we brought in the heavy artillery and turned it around.”
Mourinho was also pleased with Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde during Madrid’s strongest spells.
“When the team was playing well, he and Valverde were playing well. They broke through the pressure easily, with skill.
“But the game had two phases—or rather three: one until it was 0–2, another until it was 2–2, and another until the end. They did a good job,” he concluded.
Source: AS
