The joke was in the hashtags.
“We’d like to congratulate Real Madrid on continuing to make history by proving that 100 per cent of the global medical community was wrong,” Atletico wrote on Friday, with the post tagged #MiraculousRecovery, #MedicalReport, #Grade3Sprain and #TheStoryYouMade.
Twenty-four hours later, Valverde was in Real Madrid’s starting XI. The Uruguayan played the full 90 minutes of a 1-0 home win over Villarreal and threaded the pass for Yan Diomande’s 62nd-minute winner.
A grade-three sprain that lasted 17 days
Real Madrid announced on September 22 that Valverde had suffered a grade-three sprain in his left ankle during the Madrid derby two days earlier. Standard medical guidance for that grade of injury, in which ligament fibres are fully torn, is six to 12 weeks of recovery.
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Valverde was back in squad training 17 days later. He rejoined ball work on October 7, cleared his final session on Friday, and was named in the matchday squad the same afternoon.
The derby was a 2-1 Atletico win at the Metropolitano on September 20, Real Madrid’s first league defeat of the season.
Silence from the Bernabeu
Real Madrid have made no public reply. There has been no club statement, no counter-tweet, and manager José Mourinho has not addressed the post in press appearances. Mourinho returned to the Bernabeu in June on a three-year contract, and the Metropolitano defeat was his first derby back in charge.
Valverde now expected to start the Clasico
Barcelona host Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday, October 25, the first Clasico of the La Liga season. Valverde is a near-automatic starter in Mourinho’s midfield, and his availability was the main question mark hanging over the fixture before his inclusion against Villarreal.
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Before the trip to Catalonia, Real Madrid visit Getafe on October 19 and host RB Leipzig in the Champions League group stage on October 21.
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