- Federico Valverde opens up on Real Madrid issues so far this season
- Uruguayan reveals how Athletic Club defeat affected him
- Los Blancos have lost three Champions League games in 2024/25
Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde has admitted having sleepless nights over some of his performances so far this season.
After winning a La Liga and Champions League double last season, Los Blancos have started the 2024/25 campaign indifferently. They remain in the Spanish title hunt, sitting only two points behind Barcelona with a game in hand, but have already suffered three defeats in Europe.
Valverde is one player who has come in for criticism as Madrid struggle for consistency and has revealed he didn't get much rest after a glaring mistake led to defeat away at Athletic Club last week.
Speaking to reporters before Tuesday's clash with Atalanta: "The San Mames game, for me, helped me a lot. 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.
"Sometimes games don't go the way I would like...we would all like to put in a 10/10 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."
The arrival of Kylian Mbappe hasn't proved to be as fluid as Madrid hoped, with the Frenchman struggling to gel with Vinicius Junior, and Valverde responded when asked if his manager has been deploying too many forwards.
He added: "The lineups are the coach's responsibility. He is the person who chooses the team. It is up to us to give our best, whatever the formation may be. To contribute our grain of sand.
"As a midfielder, I like to play with forwards who carry the ball forward a lot and less backwards. We midfielders want them to look towards the opponents' goal, and less at defending."
