Fede Valverde Injury: Will Real Madrid CM be ready for Liverpool?

Real Madrid suffered a couple of more injuries against Barcelona this weekend in a tough 2-1 Clasico win. Lucas Vazquez is done for the season, and Toni Kroos is fine and should be a full-go for Wednesday’s match. But what about Fede Valverde?

Zinedine Zidane started Valverde as a right winger against Barcelona, which proved to be a very good move. Marco Asensio got some rest in between the Champions League fixtures against Liverpool, having scored his fourth in four in the first leg.

Valverde loves Clasicos, and he created the first goal with his strong run into the final third while also hitting the post later in the game.

Unfortunately, Valverde, who has been injured a couple of times this season, picked up a potential injury against Barça. While it is not a serious injury, thankfully, his status for the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal at Anfield remains unclear.

Fede Valverde appears to be a doubt for Real Madrid at Liverpool

Goal.com’s Mario Cortegana reports that Fede Valverde is a “serious doubt” for the clash against Liverpool this Wednesday. Meanwhile, COPE’s Melchor Ruiz tweeted that Real Madrid have “hopes” he can suit up against the Reds on Wednesday, as Valverde “fortunately” only has a bruise on his right foot.

One report reads optimistically, the other, not so much. So all we can say about Valverde, one day after El Clasico, is that he is indeed a doubt for the match against Liverpool, but he could conceivably play.

It would be reasonable to expect Zidane to exercise caution with the talented midfielder. He is, in general, careful with injured players and does not rush them. Although this match at Anfield is an important one and Liverpool could advance with a 2-0 win, for example, Real are in command in the tie. So they have even less reason to rush Valverde. As we have seen this season with Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal, injury aggravations are a reality.

Valverde could be in the squad but only be available off the bench as an impact sub, in case he is needed and is ready to go.

The key here is that Real Madrid have at least avoided another multi-week absence with Valverde. If he is out against Liverpool, he should be ready to return next weekend against Getafe. Real have lost one key player for a while in Vazquez, who may have played his last match for Real in El Clasico, but Valverde does not appear to be a long-term absence by any means.