The 'pichichi' Fede Valverde: a "risky" bet and the pain of an "unnecessary" entry

• Chronicle A Real Madrid in a state of grace melts Sevilla

• The cutter Madrid is the magician of suspense

As the clock approached midnight,

left the

with a more than obvious limp.

He had the morals to make an 'ok' gesture with his hand, but he could barely walk.

The reason: a very tough entry by

in the extra time of the match against

, with everything already decided on the scoreboard.

The Uruguayan, author of

that sealed the duel, dribbled past the Argentine midfielder in the central zone of the pitch and pushed the ball away, but the Sevilla player collided his knee with Valverde's right thigh and ended the action by stepping on him with force the

.

" 2x1

, according to the voices that came out of the Madrid dressing room at the end of the clash.

The '

' complained of the pain, although he did not protest to the referee or the rival, and remained

for the couple of minutes that the match lasted, touching his thigh, making gestures with his head and putting fear in the body to all

.

With the final whistle, the white team's medical services approached him to find out his sensations and rule out that it was anything more than a strong and classic '

'.

While waiting for the tests that he will undergo this Sunday, his first reaction was to place a

on his entire thigh.

"He has a blow and it bothers him.

explained

in the press room, referring to the penultimate game of the

group stage against

in Germany.

A loss that would join that of

, who will not play that match either and who "will return on Sunday,"

announced .

Seven goals in total

Against Sevilla, Valverde once again used the 'cannon' that he has in his right leg and scored his

of the season in the League, the

counting the one he scored against

in the Champions League and the fourth of the year from outside of the area, a figure that places him as the best scorer in the major leagues from long distance.

The Uruguayan is already

in the league and fourth in the top scorer, beating Benzema's five goals,

and

's five

.

He is, logically, the midfielder in the League who has scored the most goals, bettering

by one ).

In addition, he has tied

in the table of Real Madrid scorers in all competitions: seven for the Brazilian, seven for the

.

His seven goals bring him closer to the ten of the

.

If he doesn't reach that figure at the end of the season, the Italian coach would have to retire.

"

, eh, last year he only scored one. I've risked a lot," the transalpine joked at a press conference.

"But Federico is a responsible person, he is doing well."

The bet, a topic of conversation that comes up every time the Uruguayan scores a goal, is a way that

chose to motivate Valverde, but the Italian admits that it is a technique that he has used a lot throughout his career.

"

with the players," he assured.

In the locker room, the bet is already vox pópuli and all the players in the squad are waiting for the Uruguayan's numbers.

"

", Courtois confessed.

"Before this year many of us have told Fede that he has to shoot more in games. He hits him very hard and if he goes a little to one side it's impossible to stop," he added.

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• Thibaut Courtois

• real Madrid

• Faith Valverde