Before the season began, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti set his talented young midfielder Federico Valverde a challenge. “If you aren’t capable of scoring 10 goals in a season, I’ll tear up my coaching licence and retire,” the Italian joked to the Uruguayan.
The motivation is evidently working. In this, Valverde’s fifth season in Madrid’s first-team squad, he has already matched his best tally – three goals – for a single campaign, and will go into Sunday’s city derby against Atletico with a pair of spectacular strikes fresh in his memory.
Against Mallorca last weekend, he ran from midway inside his own half, swerved past opponents to their right and their left before unleashing a piledriver to launch a comeback from behind that ended with Real winning 4-1.
On Wednesday, with Madrid struggling to assert themselves against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, he thundered in another left-footer to set the European champions on a path to a 2-0 triumph.
As eye-catching as the goal was the celebration – fists clenched, knees bent, voice roaring. “Nadalesque”, the newspaper El Pais called the gesture, put in mind of Rafa Nadal, the tennis superstar and ardent Madridista.
Ancelotti liked the emphatic expression of joy from the 24-year-old, who, he said, sometimes conceals his broad range of skills. “He’s been scoring with his left foot,” noted Ancelotti of the last two Valverde wonderstrikes, “He’s got a great shot on him, but I’d never seen him shoot with the left.”
So another box is dutifully ticked in the expanding skill set of Valverde, a footballer whose development at Real has been a grand tour of different positions – from full-back to midfield-anchor, to playmaker, to winger, and an exercise in diligent patience.
Mallorca 1 Real Madrid 4: player ratings
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REAL MADRID RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois 6: The Belgian had to be quick to react to Muriqi’s effort in the first minute, but could do little to stop Muriqi’s header from a tight angle. AFP -
Lucas Vazquez 7: Playing at right-back, Vasquez came incredibly close to putting Madrid in front, with a curling effort going just wide of the post. EPA -
Antonio Rudiger 7: Enjoyed playing on the front foot thanks to Real’s dominance, and had one shot from distance deflected over the crossbar. A perfectly timed run saw the German fire in from a free-kick to make it four at the death. Getty -
David Alaba 7: Comfortable display from defender and sent one lovely pass to Vinicius in the first half. Booked. EPA -
Ferland Mendy 6: The left-back was beaten by Maffeo’s storming run down the wing and he gave away the free-kick which led up to Mallorca’s goal. Booked. AP -
Toni Kroos 7: Playing slightly deeper in midfield, the German shot wide of Rajkovic’s post with a curling effort on the edge of the box. Later, he shot from a similar position straight at Mallorca’s goalkeeper. EPA -
Federico Valverde 7: Put Real Madrid back on level terms with a stunning individual effort with run that started in his own half. Reuters -
Dani Ceballos 7: Tried his luck from distance in the early stages to force a save from Rajkovic. Picked up an assist and generally impressed. EPA -
Rodrygo 8: Fired over after an impressive run from the halfway line before shooting straight at Rajkovic inside theb first half hour. The Brazilian later shrugged off Mallorca’s tackles and, once again, produced a stunning solo effort to put the game to bed. Getty -
Eden Hazard 5: A first start since January after his goal against Celtic, Hazard struggled to get involved and will be disappointed not to make an impression. Getty -
Vinicius Junior 8: Thought he’d found the equaliser with a powerful shot from distance but he could only fire wide of the post. He made up for it when he bagged Madrid’s second. Getty -
SUBS: Luka Modric (On for Hazard 59') 7: Rested for the Champions League, Modric came on for a short stint and wasted no time playing Rodrygo in ahead of Vinicius Junior’s goal. Nacho Fernandez (On for Mendy 59') 6: Moved seamlessly into centre-back, with Alaba moving into left-back. Getty -
Eduardo Camavinga (On for Ceballos 69') 6: Slotted in well and helped Real Madrid keep pressing forward. Getty -
Dani Carvajal (On for Vazquez 71') 6: Another player to be rested but still managed an assist for Rodrygo’s goal. AFP -
MALLORCA RATINGS: Predrag Rajkovic 6: The Serb would have expected to be busy and was equal to Real’s efforts on goal until Valverde found the top corner, leaving him no chance. EPA -
Pablo Maffeo 6: Impressive work on the 34-minute mark saw him dispossess a Real shirt before sprinting forward and forced Valverde into conceding free-kick, which would end up with Mallorca scoring. AP -
Martin Valjent 6: Delivered a sublime pass to Muriqi seconds after kick-off to catch Real Madrid’s defence off-guard. AFP -
Antonio Raillo 5: Booked for an incident with Vinicius Junior in the box which prompted a scuffle between the two. Was a spectator for Rodrygo’s goal. AFP -
Matija Nastasic 5: Booked on his debut in the first half and was left strung out with Real’s trickery, Rodrygo in particular leaving the former Manchester City player chasing his shadow. Getty -
Jaume Costa 5: The experienced left-back was quiet and struggled to make his presence felt on the wing. Getty -
Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta 6: Busy in midfield to try and limit Madrid’s dominance in possession. He put his fair share of tackles in, and there was perhaps no coincidence that Madrid dominated after his substitution. Getty -
Rodrigo Battaglia 5: Allowed Valverde to run straight past him without much of a challenge for Madrid’s equaliser. Looked leggy chasing the play. Getty -
Dani Rodriguez 5: Put his fair share of tackles in but was unable to stop Madrid’s dominance in possession. Getty -
Kang-in Lee 6: The Korean delivered a spot-on free-kick a tight angle to find Muriqi, who headed Mallorca into the lead. EPA -
Vedat Muriqi 7: The Mallorca forward put Courtois into action in the first minute, looping the ball over Rudiger before hitting the ball on the volley at the Belgian. Headed home well to put his team in front. EPA -
SUBS: Iddrisu Baba (On for Battaglia 53’) 6: Straight into the action, Baba was quickly putting in challenges and breaking up play. EPA -
Clement Genier (One for Ruiz de Galarreta 59’) 5: Backed out of a tackle on Rodrygo, which allowed the Brazilian a free run to assist Vinicius Junior's goal. AP -
Antonio Sanchez (On for Rodriguez 59’) 6: Should have done better from six yards when he was fed the ball after good play by Mallorca. Lago Junior (On for Lee 78’) N/A. Abdon Prats (On for Muriqi 78’) N/A. Getty
When he was signed, as a teenager, from Penarol in 2016, the fabled midfield trio that have shared in four Champions League successes together – Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos – were already well established, leaving limited opportunities for understudies.
But last season Valverde became their fourth musketeer. He started all but one of the rollercoaster knockout games that guided Madrid to the last Champions League final. There, he provided the cross for the Vinicius Junior goal that beat Liverpool and delivered the European Cup.
With Casemiro transferred to Manchester United in the summer, a new look midfield is taking shape, Modric and Kroos still in situ, but with Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga adding youthful energy, and, with useful timing, Valverde now adding goals to his repertoire.
Real may have to go into the derby without their chief finisher, Karim Benzema who is recovering from a muscular injury he sustained against Celtic last week.
His lay-off exposes a lack of back-up at centre-forward and is one area in which the wealthiest club in Madrid might look with a little envy at the balance of resources on their neighbours’ roster: for Atletico, Alvaro Morata should lead the line against Real, alongside Joao Felix, with Matheus Cunha and Angel Correa on the bench.
Then there’s Antoine Griezmann, whose absence from Atletico’s starting XIs, and clockwork-regular appearances as a substitute just after the hour of matches are becoming a source of frustration – for his manager Diego Simeone.
Griezmann’s minutes on the pitch are being limited by complex contractual issues, with Simeone instructed by his bosses that, ideally, the France World Cup-winning striker should play for fewer than 45 minutes per game.
The reasoning is financial: Atletico believe that the two-year loan agreement that brought Griezmann back to them from Barcelona in September last year states they have to buy him for €40 million if he plays for more than half a game in 50 per cent of the fixtures he is available for.
In 2021/22, Griezmann played more than that, appearing for more than 45 minutes in 81 per cent of his games. But this season, the percentage is reducing because Griezmann only ever comes on with half an hour or less to go.
Barcelona, where Griezmann’s contract expires in 2024, are considering action against Atletico, claiming that the €40m could and should have been triggered after the first season of the loan.
They believe Atletico are now engineering a situation where they can negotiate a lower transfer fee or threaten Barca with no obligatory purchase at all.
As those two clubs quarrel about Griezmann’s level of activity, Real happily watch on. Griezmann scored against them for five successive years in Madrid derbies during his first spell at Atletico. If he is restricted to a seat on the bench and just 30 minutes on the pitch this weekend, Ancelotti will not mind.
