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Real Madrid fans showered Federico Valverde with praise after Real Madrid's 2-0 UEFA Champions League quarterfina second-leg win against Chelsea on Tuesday (April 18).
Los Blancos won the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu 2-0, where the Uruguay international played the full 90 minutes. Like in the first leg, Valverde started as a right-sided central midfielder against the Blues.
The former Penarol midfielder has been utilised as a right-winger by Carlo Ancelotti on many occasions but has recently been playing as a central midfielder. He was on fire against Frank Lampard's side in West London and ended the game with an assist.
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Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 58th minute after Real Madrid made a mockery of Chelsea's defence on the counterattack. He doubled his tally ten minutes from time, but it was Valverde's assist that caught the eye of Madrid fans.
The 24-year-old skipped past a lunging Mykhaylo Mudryk and smoothly evaded Thiago Silva as if he wasn't there to assist Rodyrgo's goal. It was arguably one of the best assists in the competition this season, and it did not go unnoticed.
Los Blancos fans took to Twitter to praise the Uruguayan after a dominant performance at Stamford Bridge. One said:
"Valverde is one of Madrid players I admire the most. Insane baller."
Another tweeted:
"That Valverde masterclass wins us matches"
Here are some of the other reactions:
Valverde completed all three of his attempted dribbles, had a pass accuracy of 87% from 54 passes and made five recoveries. He has 12 goals and six assists in 47 games across competitions this term.
Frank Lampard's nightmare Chelsea stint continues with Real Madrid loss
Chelsea surprisingly hired Frank Lampard as caretaker manager earlier this month after sacking Graham Potter on April 2.
The former Blues midfielder had been out of a job since being sacked by a struggling Everton side in January. The remaining games this season could have served as an audition for him for the permanent manager role.
If the scenario looked improbable before, it looks impossible now. His team have lost all four games across competitions since he took charge, scoring just once.
Apart from the two defeats against Real Madrid, the streak includes a 2-1 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion and a 1-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league. The Blues are 11th in the standings with 39 points from 31 games.
