This WednesdayFede Valverde has gone through The spar, after the victories against PSG in the Champions League and Mallorca in the League. It’s Sunday is the Classic and, later, the national team break in which the Uruguayan international plays the next World Cup, the one in Qatar. About all this, his adaptation to the club and the city of Madrid, his future and the possible arrival or not of Kylian Mbappé next season, he has chatted with Manu Carreño.
Do you want Modric or Kroos to retire?
I enjoy with them. I would like to enter a little more, is that every time they play more and better (laughs).
You’ll tell them from time to time ‘what’s up’…
I’m telling you… get some rest, right?
It’s nice to have a team where the competition is like that and to have the teammates you have, but Valverde’s aspiration is to have more playing time.
I enjoy every day since I arrived. I try to learn from them, to get the most out of each one. But of course, I try to contribute mine, I try to give my best and I know that by working hard I can make them continue to improve and have a great level. I always try to work and be available for anything. Better playing because I like to play but when it’s not my turn to play I try to support them in whatever way I can.
Tell me one thing you would stay with about Modric, what is the most you have learned from him?
The desire to win. Of having achieved many things and continuing to have that impetus to continue achieving things and goals. You want each game, be it the Champions League, the League or the Copa del Rey, to want to play it and want to win. It is always ambition.
“Mbappé is unbearable as a rival”
And of Toni Kroos?
The calm he has in every game. It’s German for everything. I enjoy football, I live it with a lot of passion. But it is that the big matches and the Champions League are lived with a bit of nerve and he seems to be going to play in the patio with some friends or with the children.
And of Casemiro?
Everything. The aggressiveness… takes me to that reflex of those of us who come from South America to fight and fight each ball as if it were the last. For us, football and each game are the last thing. It is the passion. I get a little from each one and that completes an incredible footballer.
And Fede Valverde who is he most like?
I can have a bit of Luka Modric because I have that energy. I try to play for the team, I try to be that part that you don’t see much. Casemiro has said it a lot, doing that dark job that doesn’t stand out. A little bit of Luka and another of Case. I try to contribute my energy to the defense and the forwards but it is a job that does not stand out sometimes.
You’ve been through COVID twice and some injury has cut you off, but Valverde amazed Real Madrid and you were a very important piece in Zidane’s Madrid. Have you noticed that your rhythm has been cut off?
A player always tries to play every game of the year, but there are always obstacles and circumstances that make you stop that dynamic. There are matches trips with the National Team that lead to an accumulation of matches and trips that can also lead to some circumstance such as injuries. I try to work to the maximum every day, I have improved a lot since I arrived at Madrid and I have matured, not only as a player, but also as a person in many things that are not seen in football: rest, meals, psychological work… There are many things that made me grow as a footballer. I am shielding my game well, my personality. My best moment was with Zidane, which was when I had a series of games without injuries and when the team needed me.
This is your fourth season and you have a contract until 2027… but the Classic, what? Can there be any decaf Classic?
No, I don’t think there is. Obviously stars of each team left. Cristiano from Madrid, Messi from Barcelona. That accumulated a lot of people around the world, millions of people watching that game almost for the two of them. Today it is different, but it is still Madrid-Barça. It keeps reaching everyone, it keeps reaching every player. It is a unique game for everyone. I come from South America is a game that is enjoyed as if it were the last in life and that is played as the first. Being from South America, I enjoy it to the fullest, I try to enjoy every moment with my friends, with my family. For me it is unique.
You have to be clear that you have to hit the door when you get to the area. Your partner posted on social networks after the last time you either did it like this or she cooked. She must cook really bad because you kicked for sure.
When he said that I psyched myself up to shoot on goal. I am not going to say that it cooks badly, but it can improve a lot.
Has Madrid sentenced LaLiga?
What we have is quite an advantage, but we know that there are many games and many points to play. We know that it also depends exclusively on us. If we draw or lose, we relax some games, they also come closer to us again and LaLiga is played again. This weekend’s game is a very important game because then you go to the break. If you win, it’s two quieter weeks, you can leave with an advantage, then try to continue with that advantage.
Imagine that we are not recording this and I tell you… Fede, LaLiga is won, right?
Nerd. Still a long way.
How is Mbappé on the pitch as a footballer? Does he look like Ronaldo Nazario?
I have seen Ronaldo play very little, only through videos and social networks. He has scored incredible goals and is a world figure. I had Mbappé as a rival and for me he is a great player. It’s a show. He is young but at the same time shows an experience as if he were very old. He has some characteristics that are unique. He is a great player and an unbearable rival.
AFP7 via Europa Press (AFP7 via Europa Press)
What did you experience in the match against PSG? Those minutes between the first goal and the third, how do you remember it a week later?
It was unique. It was a unique game. I haven’t played thousands, but I have played quite a few important ones, but like the one in Paris I haven’t played even two. They are matches that will stay with you for life. For me they will be unique. I realize it, because sometimes we players don’t realize what we’re going through, but when I got home and saw my family the experiences they’d had… they’re things that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Defending this shield, having won and qualified for this hobby, is a historic day for me.
After that crazy night, do you see Real Madrid as a clear candidate to win the Champions League?
I do not know if as the only candidate. Real Madrid is a candidate for everything it has won and achieved in recent years. Real Madrid is always a rival to beat. All teams are good today, anyone can give you a fight. So many stars no longer matter, but simply winning and being a team. That is what will take you to achieve the goal.
What does Madrid mean to you?
A lot. Since the day I arrived, every person I have met has received me in a good way, they have treated me well in every place, also to my family, son, parents… I owe a lot to Madrid. There are many things that I can do here that I cannot do in Uruguay, and so I try to help
Do you handle being a dad well?
Being a dad is much harder than being a footballer. Since you were born, you have been moved by a love that is not moved by anything or anyone, it is unique. I learn every day and it fills my soul
What’s it called?
Benicio
Is it from Madrid?
Yes, well, from many teams. From Madrid, Peñarol, River (laughs)
What does the Real Madrid shirt mean to you?
It’s special, it changed my life. I’m from Peñarol, but ever since I got here, I knew I was wearing the shirt of the best team in the world. It’s a huge pressure and responsibility, but I enjoyed it. Every day that I come here, my family always tells me: “Enjoy every moment”, because it is unique. Every thing I do here is unique.
Do you think you haven’t hit the ceiling?
I improve every day, I put the roof on. I want to continue improving and winning titles.
Champions Draw. Would you like to cross with Atlético?
We are ready for anything. I think it would be nice to meet again later.
Would another final between Real Madrid and Atlético be nice?
Sure.
“I can have a bit of Luka Modric because I have that energy”
Are you surprised to see Barça in the Europa League?
Barça is an important team worldwide. We know of their quality, they have made a very big change since Xavi arrived, they have improved a lot at the game level, they look for matches, they win, some easily, so we have to be careful…
You have no margin of error with the selection…
We are focused on the match against Peru, looking forward to it…
Lift the Champions League or the World Cup in December with Uruguay?
The signal was cut (laughs). I choose the 2. The Champions League is the best and the World Cup… I think I’m still retiring (laughs)
What do Uruguayans have that others do not?
He has the desire to fight. We have grown up looking at our parents, struggling every day to have a plate of food, and that is reflected in football… When you go out to the field, remember the moments you lived passing your father or mother capable of not eating one day, or work more than 12 hours… and you say “I have to go out to the field and break my heart for them and for my family at home, which is the one I’m going to feed them”…
Are we too heavy with Mbappé?
I think so, but it’s part of the football show…
Do your friends ask you, is he on the street…?
Yes, it’s in the environment, but at home my friends ask me how he plays, how he runs, he’s very good, it’s like he sees on TV… and I say yes, he’s very good and I suffer.
Do you expect to play on Sunday?
They haven’t told me anything, I haven’t talked to him, but I’m ready to play from the start or from the bench…
And to play left back? In case Mendy isn’t here…
I offer myself…
Is Benzema going to arrive?
He is very strong, I think that being the match that it is, he will always be prepared… whatever he has, he will give his best to be able to play…
Would one day Valverde play for Barcelona?
Out of respect for Real Madrid, and the values they gave me at home, I wouldn’t play. For the respect to the coat of arms that feeds me, to live, and the affection that it gives me, and the values that they gave me at home.
Are you a soccer fan? do you watch games?
I watch other sports, I try to isolate myself from football, and even more so when I lose. When I lose I don’t even watch TV…
Do you like Muay Thai?
Fascinates me.