Valverde to miss Uruguay duty after Real Madrid derby injury

Valverde to miss Uruguay duty after Real Madrid derby injury Real Madrid have confirmed that Fede Valverde has been diagnosed with a grade-three sprain in his left ankle following the Madrid derby against Atlético de Madrid, as Managing Madrid report . The club’s official update lists his recovery as pending evolution, and Valverde is not expected to feature in Uruguay’s upcoming matches during the current international window. The injury stems from a tackle attributed to Kang In Lee during the derby, an incident covered in Football España’s report on the match itself . Real Madrid had already flagged concern over Valverde’s ankle in the immediate aftermath, describing it as severe trauma before Tuesday’s tests upgraded the diagnosis to a confirmed grade-three sprain, a detail first outlined in Football España’s earlier injury update . What Real Madrid’s medical services have said Los Blancos’ medical department carried out fresh tests on the Uruguayan midfielder and released a short statement confirming the grade-three classification, with his progress described as pending evolution rather than tied to a fixed date. According to Managing Madrid, Valverde is expected to rejoin full training in around two weeks, with Villarreal potentially his first match back once the FIFA break concludes, though that timeline is presented as a projection rather than a club-confirmed schedule. In the meantime, Valverde will stay at Valdebebas to continue his rehabilitation under the supervision of Real Madrid’s medical staff rather than travel for international duty. Uruguay left without a key midfielder The most immediate and clearly established consequence is on the international front: Valverde will not be available for Uruguay’s fixtures during this window, a blow for a player who has been one of La Celeste’s most reliable performers in recent cycles. Beyond that, his actual return date hinges entirely on how the ankle responds to treatment, and Real Madrid have stopped short of committing to anything beyond the informal two-week estimate reported by Managing Madrid. For a club already navigating a congested run of fixtures, losing Valverde for any stretch is a meaningful setback, even if the grade-three diagnosis falls short of the worst-case scenarios sometimes associated with that classification. His next appearance will likely depend less on the calendar and more on how his rehabilitation progresses over the coming days at Valdebebas.