Federico Valverde remains crucial as Real Madrid continue to pursue Barcelona in the league race | OneFootball

Real Madrid were not in the best of spirits as they faced Athletic Club in their La Liga matchday 32 game last Sunday. The Merengues had been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage only a few days before this game, and the mood in the dressing room and the fans was rather glum.

However, they could not have allowed their low spirits to keep them from competing against one of the more competent sides in La Liga, as they were already seven points behind Barcelona when they took to the pitch for this match, and losing further points could have meant their elimination from the La Liga race as well, only a few days after the UCL elimination.

Luckily, Carlo Ancelotti’s team came into this game with a lot of intent, as they dominated the proceedings throughout the length of the match. However, they faced a lot of problems getting a goal, and it looked like the match would end in a 0-0 draw despite the numerous chances Real Madrid generated on the night.

Fortunately, the midfielder Federico Valverde had other plans, as he scored an amazing volley in injury time to give his side a 1-0 lead, which proved to be enough for the Merengues to go on to win the game after the remaining few minutes.

Without any doubt, this goal was the most crucial contribution from Valverde in this game. But even beyond this goal, the Uruguayan star was once again crucial for his side as he started the game on the right flank but moved into the midfield in the second half.

Valverde did not have a lot to do defensively, as the Basque side did not have a lot of the ball and made only a few forays into the Real Madrid box. Still, as Sofascore statistics show, he made 3 clearances on the night.

But his major contribution came on the attacking end, as he kept joining the forwards to help his team break the deadlock. He was quite safe with his passing, as he completed 66 of his 71 attempted passes, recording a 93% success rate. The Los Blancos captain also put in 2 key passes, had 1 accurate cross from 3 attempts, and also found his target with 5 of his 7 long balls.

Surprisingly, he did not engage in even a single ground duel in this game, but got the better of his opponents in all three aerial duels he participated in.

Overall, this was another crucial outing from the Real Madrid captain, and hopefully, his heroics will rally his team after a difficult week and ahead of another set of difficult matches, especially the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona on Saturday.