Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed whether Federico Valverde will be available for Los Blancos Champions League round 16 clash against cross-city and La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, MySportDab reports.
The La Liga and European champions will trade tackles with the Diego Simeone-led in what is expected to be a rollercoaster Champions League quarterfinal cracker.
They will missed scores of first-team players due to injury but the likes of Federico Valverde who picked up a severe thigh injury were expected back to the grass ahead of the fixture.
Initially, Federico was expected to be sidelined for two months until the semi-finals of the competition due to a thigh injury.
However, close sources have revealed the Uruguayan midfield sensation is recovering fast and could be available as early as the Atletico Madrid game.
Now, according to Carlo Ancelotti, Federico is back to training session and had trained with the team ahead of the cracker matchup with Atletico.
However, he has added that his availability for the match is a probability and cannot be ascertained. In a quote shared by Fabrizio Romano, the veteran manager said;
“Fede Valverde will train with the group today but we will decide later if he’s ready to play tomorrow.”
He also added that Lucas Vazquez will be made to take on the right-back role if Valverde will not make it to the starting lineup.
“Lucas Vazquez will start at RB if Valverde can’t play.”
Atletico Madrid have been formidable opponents against Real Madrid and are expected to engage the defending champions in what will be a tough match tomorrow.
They will hope to leverage Madrid’s grueling injury scar to ace the fixture and go into the second leg with an advantage.
