While Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham and Thibaut Courtois often garner most of the Real Madrid-related headlines, it is time to give los Blancos' most underrated Galáctico his flowers. Fede Valverde was on target during Sunday night's crucial 3-2 derby victory over Atlético Madrid at the Bernabéu, albeit the Uruguayan was sent off soon after for hacking down Álex Baena.
Nevertheless, this took Valverde's tally to eight goals this season, all of which have come since the turn of the year, thereby on course to break his own personal single-season goal-scoring record.
Fede Valverde's Real Madrid goals in 2025/26
- 22 March. Real Madrid 3-2 Atlético Madrid - La Liga.
- 14 March. Real Madrid 4-1 Elche - La Liga.
- 11 March. Real Madrid 3-0 Manchester City - Champions League. Hat-trick.
- 6 March. Celta de Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid - La Liga.
- 14 February. Real Madrid 4-1 Real Sociedad - La Liga.
- 8 January. Real Madrid 2-1 Atlético Madrid - Supercopa de España semi-final.
Valverde's very first goal of the campaign came as recently as 8 January; his absolute rocket of a free-kick broke the deadlock against Atleti during the Supercopa de España semi-final in Jeddah.
More recently, he has netted in three successive La Liga matches for only the second time, after October 2022, while his sublime 22 minute hat-trick against Manchester City at the Bernabéu pretty much single-handedly won that round of 16 tie.
So, despite the late start on the goal-scoring front, will this prove to be Valverde's most-productive campaign in front of goal?
Fede Valverde's goals-per-season at Real Madrid
Season | Appearances | Minutes | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
2025/26 | 42 | 3,528 | 8 |
2024/25 | 65 | 5,556 | 11 |
2023/24 | 54 | 4,280 | 3 |
2022/23 | 56 | 4,403 | 12 |
2021/22 | 46 | 2,862 | 1 |
2020/21 | 33 | 1,963 | 3 |
2019/20 | 44 | 2,714 | 2 |
2018/19 | 25 | 1,120 | 0 |
The 2022/23 season remains Valverde's best in terms of goals, bagging 12 that season, including a double as los Blancos beat Al-Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup Final in Rabāṭ. Last season was the only other time the Uruguayan has reached double figures, netting 11 times, including six in La Liga and two at last summer's expanded Club World Cup, on target against Pachuca and RB Salzburg.
Due in part to the Club World Cup, Valverde racked up a whopping 5,556 minutes across seven tournaments, a tally he will get nowhere near matching in club colours this time round. Nevertheless, he could very much beat his best scoring season total, needing just five more to do so.
Well, in April and May, Álvaro Arbeloa's team will have so much to play for. With nine La Liga matches to go, los Merengues are four points adrift leaders Barcelona, with the pair set to meet at Camp Nou on Sunday 10 May. Real Madrid also have the small matter of a Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, with the first leg at the Bernabéu on 7 April. If they harbour any hopes of winning either competition, Arbeloa will need Valverde to continue to be at his scintillating best.