Real Madrid Star Admits to Having Difficulty Sleeping Following Athletic Club Loss
Real Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde has admitted that he had difficulties sleeping following the team's recent loss against Athletic Club. Los Blancos suffered a 2-1 loss against Athletic Club on Wednesday, December 4. Valverde made a horrific error in that match and the defeat was a big blow to Real Madrid's aim of toppling Barcelona from atop the league table.
Ahead of the UEFA Champions League game against Atalanta, Valverde opened up about how he felt after that match. He said (quotes via Football Espana):
The San Mames game, for me, helped me a lot. I’be To improve, learn, so that such a mistake does not happen again. It will be a team that will put us in a lot of difficulties and that will put men on top of us, but we have very fast and skilled people. We are players made for these games.
- Fede Valverde
⚪️💤 Fede Valverde: “Few games ago I made a very key mistake that had never happened to me before… and that night I had trouble sleeping”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 9, 2024
“But I have to move forward and show that I'm one of the captains”. pic.twitter.com/r8hkl0hZ2m
He further added:
Sometimes games don’t go the way I would like… We would all like to put in a 10 performance every game, and in San Mames I made a mistake that cost us the game, something that had never happened to me in my entire career. It was difficult to sleep that night, but those things are part of football. The important thing is to move forward and show that, as one of the captains, I can be an example.
- Fede Valverde
"It p*sses you off, obviously. We're not used to going through these moments; we're always on top. But you have to be calm, it is part of football, the process and trust in the work."
— Football España (@footballespana_) December 9, 2024
"Despite winning so much, we must keep our feet on the ground."
🗣️Valverde on being 24th #UCL pic.twitter.com/yhKo6VoxNa
Real Madrid have managed to return to winning ways following the loss and beat Girona 3-0 in their previous game. Carlo Ancelotti's side are set to take on Atalanta in a UEFA Champions League showdown on Tuesday, December 10. Their start to the UCL campaign has been far from ideal as Los Merengues have lost three of their opening five games, winning only six points.
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Apratim is an experienced sports journalist having covered European and World Football, Combat Sports, Olympic Sports, and more for online media publications like Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. He is currently an MSc. in Sport Marketing student at Loughborough University, London.