Federico Valverde suffers ankle injury in Atletico Madrid derby defeat

Real Madrid captain Federico Valverde has suffered a left ankle injury in his side’s weekend derby defeat by Atletico Madrid, the club confirmed on Tuesday.

The Uruguay midfielder was injured after a tackle from Atletico’s Lee Kang-in during Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat on Sunday.

Real Madrid have argued that the challenge should have resulted in a red card for the South Korean midfielder.

The club said medical tests had confirmed that Valverde suffered a grade three sprain in his left ankle.

“After the tests carried out today on our player Fede Valverde by the Real Madrid medical services, he has been diagnosed with a grade 3 sprain in his left ankle,” the La Liga giants said in a short statement.

Spanish media reports said Valverde is expected to miss several weeks and will not be available for Uruguay’s upcoming friendly matches against Japan, South Korea and India.

“Valverde is expected to rejoin the squad in around two weeks and he should be able to face Villarreal in the first game after the current FIFA break. He will not play in Uruguay’s upcoming games and will stay in Valdebebas recovering from this injury sustained after a violent tackle from Kang In Lee.”

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho also criticised the tackle after the derby. He arrived at his post-match press conference with printed screenshots of two challenges involving Atletico players which he believed deserved red cards.

One of those images showed Lee’s challenge on Valverde, adding to Real Madrid’s complaints about the incident.

Valverde is now expected to remain at Real Madrid’s training base in Valdebebas as he continues his recovery before the FIFA international break.