Federico Valverde has explained why Real Madrid showed greater intensity after falling behind in their dramatic 4–3 Champions League victory over Roma, saying the team finally began to execute its pre-match tactical plan during the late comeback.
Asked during his post-match interview why Madrid appeared to show their fighting spirit only when losing, the Uruguayan midfielder acknowledged the team’s resilience while explaining how their approach changed as they chased the game.
“As a player, I’m proud of the team for how they fought, but it’s true that if we played like that from the start, things would’ve gone very differently,” Valverde said.
The Real Madrid midfielder explained that his side had struggled to implement its preparations during the first half, despite training for specific attacking movements and ways to exploit Roma’s defence.
“The first half was even. They created many chances, and we weren’t able to apply what we prepared for the game. We trained for many things, but we were not able to apply it tonight,” he said.
Valverde added that Madrid began to carry out those instructions more effectively after going behind, using greater freedom of movement, runs in behind the defence and one-on-one situations to create attacking opportunities.
“After that, with fighting spirit, after we were losing, we started doing what we trained for, which is to move freely in behind and look for one-on-one duels,” he explained.
Madrid had found themselves trailing 3–1 after Roma scored through Marten de Roon and a Donyell Malen brace. Kylian Mbappé had scored Madrid’s first goal, but the visitors needed a late surge to avoid defeat.
Carlos Espí and Endrick brought Madrid level before Antonio Rüdiger scored the decisive goal to complete the remarkable turnaround and secure a 4–3 victory.
Valverde’s comments offered an explanation for the change in Madrid’s performance rather than a criticism of his teammates’ character. His point was that the team’s determination became more visible as the urgency increased and its planned attacking movements finally began to work.
The victory gave Madrid another memorable European comeback, while Valverde’s assessment underlined the importance of translating their tactical preparation into consistent performance from the opening whistle.