At halftime, with Real trailing 2-1, Ancelotti made several substitutions, including Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, in an effort to turn the game around. ..Continue Reading
Following the match, Ancelotti told the press he had taken Valverde off due to physical concerns.
The Italian coach said: “It’s very complicated for me. I took him off because he wasn’t at 100 per cent.
“He has been dealing with back issues. He seemed to have recovered because he trained well yesterday, but he didn’t appear to be at his best physical level, which is why I made the change.”
During the game, Valverde’s wife posted a series of tweets criticizing Ancelotti for positioning her 26-year-old husband as a right winger rather than in his usual central midfield role.
However, she later claimed her account was hacked and then made it private.
Now, according to COPE reporter Javi Gomez, Valverde’s “inner circle” has indicated that he felt “fine” after the match, contrary to Ancelotti’s statement that he was still dealing with back issues.
Valverde was reportedly “surprised by his coach’s words” and “does not understand” why Ancelotti suggested he was experiencing physical problems.
Valverde trained with Real Madrid’s squad on Thursday, according to beIN Sports, and is expected to be available for their upcoming match against Getafe this weekend.
Meanwhile, Ancelotti is still without David Alaba, who has been out with an ACL injury since December.
Alaba, however, has increased his training activity and has started working with the ball again.
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