Valverde: “The victory will give us an incredible boost to keep growing”

Fede Valverde delivered 62 high-level minutes at Camp Nou. Our captain, who had to leave the pitch due to discomfort, spoke about the Clásico, in which Real Madrid achieved their fifth consecutive victory: “More than happy and proud of the team. The team works well, everyone knows what they have to do, and that’s what makes a team: staying united and stepping up when needed. The keys were being a team, knowing how to suffer, finding spaces, and attacking the backline. We played spectacularly in the first half, and in the second, they pushed forward more, making it a bit harder for us, but we ended up winning, and that’s what matters."

“Stringing together five wins gives us great energy, but the game we all wanted to play and win was this one. It’s going to give us an incredible boost to keep improving and growing as a team. It will make us all stay on the same path, work twice as hard now, and understand that it’s up to us to play good matches.”

His physical discomfort
“If the team wins, I can sleep peacefully and happily. At halftime, we talked, and the coach asked me if I could continue, and I tried. My leg was bothering me a bit after a slide tackle I made. It was more of a precaution. For me, it’s very easy to keep playing with this kind of teammates who encourage you and push you to keep giving your best for the team. It’s an honor to share the field and locker room with them. I’m happy for everyone’s effort because when I was off the pitch, it made me proud to see them all running.”

Praise for Mbappé on his 100 goals and for Lunin
“Congratulations to both. Kylian has already surpassed me in goals, and he arrived after me... I’m very happy for him. He’s working hard, and he deserves it. He’s a great player, a star, and an example. I’m happy he continues scoring goals for us because it’s important. About Lunin, there are no words to describe what he did today and what he does every day. He gets fewer minutes because Courtois is there, but he’s always working in the shadows, giving his best with a positive attitude. That allows him to have these performances on the field and to be ready when called upon.”