Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan: Federico Valverde lavishes praise on "incredible" Los Blancos star after Champions League win

By Matt Law | 08 Sep 2026 22:17, Last updated: 08 Sep 2026 22:19

Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde has lavished praise on Thibaut Courtois' performance in Tuesday's Champions League success over Inter Milan.

Jose Mourinho's side managed to open their 2026-27 European campaign with a victory at Bernabeu, as goals from Kylian Mbappe and Valverde handed them a 2-1 win over Inter.

However, it was far from a straightforward match for Real Madrid, with Inter actually having 21 shots during a strong performance, seven of which were on target.

Inter managed to halve the deficit in the 77th minute through Carlos Augusto but were unable to score a second to level the scores in the Spanish capital.

Valverde was full of praise for his goalkeeper after the match, insisting that Courtois "saved" Los Blancos in their European fixture.

Courtois came up with seven saves during a strong performance.

"Thibaut Courtois saved us," Valverde told reporters in his post-match interview.

"I think we put in a great first half. I think this award (Man of the Match award) is largely thanks to Courtois. He saved us and delivered an incredible performance, so I think this award is his as well.

"I think we should have imposed our playing style; we rushed too much when finishing attacks and in the attack.

"We didn't have the patience to possess the ball and play and take a breather a bit, especially for the back line. That's what made the match crazy and forced us to always support the defence.

A winning start to the Champions League! ? pic.twitter.com/NrOd4SDsBN

"Jose Mourinho told us very clearly to possess the ball more, especially on their pitch, and to play with more fluency and calmness.

"That's what we didn't do. In the end, we have to be self-critical; it's true that we won and it's important to start with a win, but we as players need to realise that we put in a poor second half, got dragged into playing their style, and didn't deliver a great match."

Real Madrid will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins when they continue their La Liga campaign against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday night.

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