Fede Valverde was forced off in the 62nd minute of El Clásico after battling through Real Madrid's 2-1 win, and that sudden exit may have reopened the right-back race at the club. Valverde had been the answer there for José Mourinho this season, but with him now a doubt, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries have a clearer path back into the conversation.
The timing matters because this is not a spare-body debate, it is about minutes already being taken away from two specialist right backs. Alexander-Arnold, who arrived from Liverpool in the summer of 2025 for €12 million, has been limited to 30 appearances, including 21 in LaLiga and nine in the Champions League, and has played just 53 minutes since Mourinho turned to Valverde. Dumfries, signed from Inter Milan this year for €20 million, has featured in 10 of Madrid's 13 competitive matches and has piled up almost 600 minutes, yet Mourinho has still leaned on Valverde when the games have tightened.
Valverde's performance in El Clásico only sharpened the argument for why he was trusted there in the first place. He set up Diomande's first goal in a Real Madrid shirt, and the pair were tied for the team lead with three chances created. Valverde also finished second among Madrid players with 12 completed passes in the final third, while adding four ball recoveries, two interceptions, one clearance, one successful tackle and four duels won from five. He was not beaten by an opposing dribbler.
That is what makes the next step so awkward for Mourinho. He has already used Valverde out of necessity at right back, after Vinícius Júnior's red card against Villarreal pushed the midfielder into that role again, and he has not hidden his view that the workload has to be spread out. At the beginning of the season, he said one player could not be expected to play 60 games while another played none, or one 10 and the other 50, because that is not possible and the squad has quality. The problem is that Dumfries was used heavily by Xavi Hernández for 350 of a possible 360 minutes during September's international break, yet that workload has not translated into the same trust at Real Madrid.
The open question now is not whether Valverde can handle the job; it is how much damage this setback does to Mourinho's plan before the next selection call. If Valverde misses time, Alexander-Arnold's fitfulness and Dumfries' long wait suddenly matter again, and Madrid may have to choose between giving one of them a real run or pushing Valverde straight back into the spot he has made his own.
