Jose Mourinho has refused to reveal whether Fede Valverde will continue at right-back when Real Madrid face Barcelona at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Valverde has started Real Madrid’s past two matches in the position, despite Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries being available on the bench. The decision has raised questions about whether Mourinho will again use the midfielder in defence for the La Liga meeting.
Asked about the possibility at his news conference after Real Madrid’s 4-1 Champions League victory over Leipzig, Mourinho declined to discuss his plans.
“I will not talk about what will happen on Sunday, and I will not answer whether he will play in this position again on Saturday,” he said.
“But I will say that Fede gave a good performance.”
Mourinho, as quoted by Marca, added: “Fede playing at right-back hurts me, because it means leaving out two players who naturally play in that position.”
The comments came as Mourinho was also asked whether Thibaut Courtois was the best goalkeeper he had managed during his career.
“I have never done that. I have never spoken about my players,” he said.
“I am asked this question a lot: choose the best 11 goalkeepers from all the players you have coached over 20 years. But what I can say is that when Courtois joined us at Chelsea – he was about 20 years old – he ended up playing regularly, even though Petr Cech was the best goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League at that time.”
Mourinho explained that Chelsea won the league with Courtois in goal, while Cech was limited to cup appearances.
“We won the league with Courtois in goal, while Cech – the best of them all – only played in the cup competitions,” he said.
“If I said something like that, Julio Cesar, the former Inter Milan goalkeeper, would call me within two minutes and say: ‘Oh, so Courtois is the best? But you won the Champions League with me!’
“He would definitely call me straight away. I have always maintained that kind of respect for my former players.”
