Dumfries left on Real Madrid bench as Valverde strengthens right-back claim
The Netherlands international was an unused substitute during Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory away to Valencia, with Federico Valverde again preferred on the right of defence.
Denzel Dumfries remained on the bench throughout Real Madrid’s 3-0 LaLiga victory at Valencia on Saturday evening. The Netherlands international watched as Federico Valverde, recently used at right-back by José Mourinho, opened the scoring shortly before the half-hour mark.
Valverde converted with a diagonal shot after Kylian Mbappé’s free-kick had struck the wall. The television cameras then focused on Dumfries among the substitutes. Commentator Sierd de Vos said the image “says a lot”, according to FCUpdate, pointing to Valverde’s selection ahead of both Dumfries and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Dumfries has made only one league appearance across Real Madrid’s past four matches, coming on for approximately half an hour in the 2-1 away victory over Barcelona. He did, however, play the full 90 minutes at right-back in the midweek Champions League match against AEK Athens, which Madrid won 3-2 through a late Valverde goal.
The win at Mestalla was Real Madrid’s eighth consecutive victory in all competitions. It moved Mourinho’s side level on points with LaLiga leaders Barcelona before the Catalan club’s Sunday evening match away to Atlético Madrid. Valverde, naturally a midfielder, has increasingly been deployed on the right side of defence and has now scored in two successive games.
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