Real Madrid: Ranking Los Blancos’ top five performers from September

3. CM Federico Valverde

Real Madrid’s midfield saw a lot of changes within the games in September. Marco Asensio scored a hat-trick against his former club, Mallorca, and then went anonymous in the next game against Villarreal. Eduardo Camavinga acted as a game-changer off the bench but has struggled to have a similar impact on starts. Casemiro had a horrible spell of form and his long shots were an eye-sore for fans. Luka Modric played a few where he has below his standards but yet, did a decent enough job to see the team though.

But, if there has been one true bright spot in midfield, it has to be Fede Valverde. The Uruguayan has had more progressive carries (7.04 per 90) into the final third than any other midfielder in the squad. He was given a huge responsibility at right-back in the game against Valencia where even though he struggled to find his role, he did end up doing decently and walked out with a 7.1 match rating, per SofaScore.

He played a major role in finding that winner against Inter Milan at San Siro and also registered an assist in the first game of the month against Celta Vigo for Karim Benzema to equalize minutes after conceding. He has been pulling off a few of his usual tricks. Valverde is linking up well with the attack and in showing signs of maturity down the flanks with his sharp one-twos.

The Uruguayan is winning ground duels with more regularity and is also attempting long balls. He is doing his best to be that missing link in midfield for Real Madrid as their shape in the middle of the park has looked inexistent at times. The return of Toni Kroos is where all our hopes lie. Hopefully, Valverde can continue his good work alongside the German too.