CM Fede Valverde
Fede Valverde slowed down late in the season after La Liga returned from a forced break, but he was immense for Real Madrid for most of the season. Before the break, not a single player had a better +/- than the Uruguayan, as the team was demonstrably better every time the young man was on the pitch.
Valverde’s season can be typified by his game-winning red card on Álvaro Morata in the final of the Spanish Supercup, and he was named Man of the Match both in that gritty victory and in a few other big matches before and after the turn of the calendar to 2020.
There’s no one thing Valverde dominates at. He’s not a world-class passer, defender, ball-carrier, or finisher. But he’s good at everything. Valverde has scored from beyond the box, has started counterattacks with a crisp pass, has carried the ball into the attacking third with pace and grace, and has made ball recovery after ball recovery in midfield.
Zinedine Zidane and the fanbase have been smitten with Valverde, whose versatility and work rate are what every top club need in midfield. Madridistas can’t help but feel that Real would have fared a lot better had Valverde started in the second leg at Manchester City. As good as he was for most of the season, he is only scratching the surface.