Real Madrid’s invisible star. Federico Valverde is gradually becoming a key player

The Champions League semi-final will see Manchester City take on Real Madrid and the focus will logically be on stars like Karim Benzema, Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric. However, Federico Valverde has become a key player for Real recently.

Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Vinicius Junior, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Thibaut Courtois, all are big movers and leaders for Real Madrid. These are world-class stars that every football fan knows. But for the last few great months, Merengues fans can also thank the “invisible” star, Federico Valverde.

The Uruguayan footballer perhaps doesn’t even have the profile of a star Real Madrid player. No parties, no trouble and no media attention, Valverde, at 23, is living a family life and raising his two-year-old son Benicio with wife Mina, all the star manners go in an arc around him.

The humble player is praised by all coaches and teammates in the locker room. The hard-working midfielder has an extremely difficult position, as Real’s midfield is dominated by the legendary trio of Casemiro – Kroos – Modric. Even so, he is making a name for himself, especially thanks to his versatility, often popping up on the right wing, and last year he also filled in a couple of times at right-back.

In the 2019/20 season, he even pushed Modric out of the starting XI and started regularly, but then the Croatian caught his second wind and took his place back. This season hasn’t been easy for Valverde, he’s also been hit by some injuries and has struggled to push through the CKM trio.

The breakthrough game

But his moment came in the rematch with PSG. In the first leg in Paris, Real lacked movement and energy, Valverde’s strongest points. Federico is not a natural goalscorer or playmaker, but he is extremely important to the team because of his work rate. He covers a huge amount of space, wins a lot of balls, helps the defence perfectly and his speed makes him strong on the counter-attack.

So, for the rematch with PSG, Ancelotti bet on Valverde and it was a brilliant move. The three-goal Benzema took all the glory, but it was Valverde who was named player of the match among Real fans. He didn’t give a meter of space to PSG’s midfielders with his performance, he also helped out with defending the Parisian’s attacking trio.

Moreover, his tirelessness also made him very valid in the pressing game. He impressed Ancelotti so much that he has been an undisputed starting line-up player ever since, and apart from the Celta Vigo game, where he was spared due to his late return from the national team meeting, he has started from the start every time.

Before the quarter-final with Chelsea, the obsession with Valverde even went so far that Real fans, in exaggeration, did not care who started, as long as it was “El pajarito” (translated as the bird). He was given this nickname as a child for his tireless flying around the pitch. But the Merengues, after his recent performances, have renamed it “Halcón” – the hawk.

Most valuable attributes

Against Chelsea, he started on the right wing and was again a key point to success in both duels. He subsequently put in great performances against Sevilla and Osasuna, and the fans will be relying on their favourite again against Manchester City. At the moment, it is no longer decided whether Valverde will start, only the line-up is being adjusted to where he will start, whether on the right wing or in the centre of midfield. That’s how important Valverde is to the current Real Madrid.

Kroos, Modric and Casemiro are indeed amazing footballers, but you can’t stop age, experienced midfielders won’t be any faster either. Moreover, they don’t always switch ideally defensively, which is why Valverde is in the lineup, making up for all these attributes. This frees up the hands of Kroos and especially Modric, who subsequently has the strength to attack as he demonstrated against PSG and Chelsea.

Thus, Valverde’s most valuable attribute is that he makes better players around him. While his work for the team may be invisible to the layman, it is extremely important to the team.

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