Real Madrid Coach Carlo Ancelotti Calls Valverde ‘Best Right Back In World’ After Leganes Win

Following his team’s 3-0 win over Leganes, Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti joked that Fede Valverde is “the best right back in the world” after Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez.

The Uruguayan had to provide cover in the position at Butarque on Sunday thanks to injuries to the other mentioned players.

While Carvajal is expected to miss the rest of the season through an ACL tear, Vazquez was tipped to be out for another fortnight or so following a knock he picked up last time out in a 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna where Ancelotti lost three men in the first half alone.

Los Blancos made it two victories on the trot to close out the weekend, and put themselves in line to cut leader FC Barcelona’s advantage to just a point if it also wins a postponed game in hand against Valencia.

Valverde scored Madrid’s second goal with a drilled shot from a free kick either side of strikes from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.

Praising his defense for doing “very well at the back” post-match, Ancelotti complimented rookie center half Raul Asencio and Valverde.

“We did very well at the back. Asencio played a very serious game, playing very well and with maturity. Valverde is a fantastic full-back,” Ancelotti laughed.

“After Carvajal and Lucas, the best full-back in the world. The problem is that he can play like this in many positions on the field and the problem for the coach is to choose the best position for the team. He has incredible speed,” the Italian added.

With it remaining unknown whether Vazquez and Aurelien Tchouameni will be fit for the clash with Premier League leaders Liverpool, Valverde could get the nod at right back in the Champions League at Anfield next week.

“This is an issue that I have to think about,” Ancelotti said. “In the middle we are well covered because [Eduardo] Camavinga is at his best level, [Dani] Ceballos has played a very complete game, [Luka] Modric always does well… These are assessments that I will have to make when I have the full game [to watch back], seeing if I can recover someone for Wednesday.”

Ancelotti was pleased with the overall performance at Leganes, and his team “being more compact and focused”.

“Things are going well,” Ancelotti beamed. “When the team plays well it is because everyone contributes. Ceballos has contributed a lot in the middle. Arda [Guler] had a lot of creativity in the final third, he has been close to scoring goals, [and] he has played a complete game.

“They are players that we can count on at the moment because the demand of the matches is very high and we need everyone,” Ancelotti concluded on this.