Speaking to Movistar, Federico Valverde commented on Real Madrid‘s victory over Inter at the Bernabéu, acknowledging his team’s difficulties in the second half. The midfielder, named MVP of the match, did not hide his dissatisfaction with the performance after the break.
“I think we played an excellent first half, Courtois deserves a lot of praise for this win, he saved us and this award is also thanks to him. We had some chances, but we always played our football,” began Valverde. Then the admission about the difficulties: “In the second half we suffered a lot, which shouldn’t happen to us, especially at home. We should have imposed our game, we didn’t have the patience to keep possession and rest a bit, especially those of us who defend. This led to a crazy match and forced us to defend continuously.”
The midfielder also reported the instructions received from Mourinho during the match: “He told us very clearly that we needed to have more possession, especially in their half, and that we needed to stay calm. It’s important to start with a win, but we players need to be aware that we played a mediocre second half.”
On the lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, Valverde added: “In the end, when you don’t score… we had many chances but we didn’t play our football, on the counterattack we created some chances but we suffered a lot. It’s always important to win, to regain that confidence that after the Betis match might have dropped a bit.”
Finally, a reflection on the whistles from the crowd: “Obviously they are absolutely right, and we need to be aware that we have to improve and be more decisive in certain things. When we are winning, we need to be more patient and calm.”
CONTINUE READING