A defensive role awaits Federico Valverde as injuries continue to pile up for Real Madrid | OneFootball

Real Madrid were only able to take a point from the Madrid derby, as they drew 1-1 against Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. Needless to say, this was not the best result for the Merengues who are now only 1 point ahead of the Mattress Makers and 2 points ahead of Barcelona in La Liga standings.

However, Los Blancos will not have their attention fixated on the league race for now, as they have a stern test awaiting them in the UEFA Champions League, where they are set to face Manchester City for the two-legged play-off game to reach the Round of 16.

Despite their struggles this season, Manchester City still remain one of the most dangerous teams in Europe, and this tie would have been quite difficult for any team even in normal conditions.

However, the difficulty for Carlo Ancelotti’s team will be even greater as they enter this game with their defensive line in shambles. Three of the starters in the Italian tactician’s preferred starting lineup, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao, and Dani Carvajal, are out with injuries, while Ferland Mendy has been far from his best level since the start of this season.

Raul Asencio and Aurelien Tchouameni made up the centre of the backline as Real Madrid took on Atletico in their last league match, while Fran Garcia and Lucas Vazquez played on the flanks. However, to make things even worse, Vazquez is now also injured, and thus will not be able to play against Manchester City tomorrow.

So many losses in only one area of the team can effectively derail any side’s whole campaign. However, the Merengues are lucky to still have a highly capable option to play as the right back in their upcoming game, i.e., Federico Valverde.

Although his preferred position remains in the centre of the pitch, the Uruguayan has had to play as a right-back several times already this season, including in recent games against Atletico Madrid, Leganes, and Espanyol.

While a majority of his game time this season has come in the midfield, he still puts up good defensive numbers, which would raise hopes of the Vikings fans about his ability to keep the Manchester City forward line in control.

This season, three players have played on the right flank for a significant period, i.e., Dani Carvajal, who made 8 La Liga appearances before tearing his ACL, Lucas Vazquez, who has 19 appearances to his name, and Federico Valverde, who has 23 appearances spread out in the midfield and the defence.

According to FBREF data from domestic league appearances, the Uruguayan leads the trio in the number of players tackled, as he made 32 tackles (winning 20), followed by Vazquez’s 31 (19) and Carvajal’s 12 (8).

Considering the challenges these players have put up to opposing dribblers, Valverde boasts a 63% tackling success rate, compared with Vazquez’s 46.7% and Carvajal’s 75%.

On the other hand, the Uruguayan has also blocked 4 shots, which is higher than Vazquez’s 1 and Carvajal’s 3. He also leads the way in interceptions (42) and clearances (25).

Thus, while Ancelotti would naturally have preferred having him play in the midfield, it is looking highly likely that Valverde will play this upcoming crucial game on the right flank. He definitely has the defensive capabilities to hold his own against one of the most potent attacks in Europe, and hopefully, he will not suffer too much playing in this position.