“This type is an animal!”

It was the 90+3 minute on “Santiago Bernabeu” when Federico Valverde sent that “diagonal”, inside the big box, directly into the win. It was an explosion of joy throughout the stadium, but also on the bench of Real, at the end of a match in which, until then, the Madrid “had grinned” in the void.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti was happy as a child, and Luka Modric, who had replaced a few minutes earlier, said in amazement: “This guy is an animal, no one pulls him!”

Thibaut Courtois: “Valverde has a very strange blow”

Thibaut Courtois also remained in admiration, at the success of the international Uruguayan. “He has a very strange blow, a very good one. Yesterday, at the training, he pulled me at the gate. He seemed that the ball was coming out, but suddenly he was spinning in a strange way and changed his direction.

I asked him, “How do you shoot like that?”. But he has many such executions in training, he does this several times a week. It is an asset we have, it has this very good blow for years, “said Real's goalkeeper.

Thibaut Courtois: “We want to continue to fight”

Courtois then spoke about the match and about the importance of victory in front of Athletic Bilbao in the title duel with the leader of FC Barcelona. “It was a hard match. Athletic defended it well, it didn't leave us space.

In the first half we struggled to find color to their gate. In the second, I attacked well and created opportunities. The goal did not seem to decrease until Fede had that splendid execution.

We want to continue to fight. Barça won and it was our turn to win. The good thing was the second half, the creation of occasions and the preservation of the free gate. They did not create many occasions, just one. The second half was very good, “said the Belgian international.

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