Fede Valverde to miss Real Madrid’s upcoming LaLiga game
The Uruguayan will not be available for Álvaro Arbeloa for Real Madrid’s trip to Mallorca.
FIFA regulations mean that professional football pitches must be 100-110 metres long and 64-75 metres wide. That means that even if, under the cover of darkness, dressed in a black cloak and mask, Álvaro Arbeloa snuck in under the gate at Son Moix with a new tin of white paint and slimmed the Mallorca pitch down to 42 metres in width, the referee wouldn’t be allowed to blow the opening whistle.
Chopping off the entire right side of the pitch is the only solution I can think of as to how Real Madrid deal with the upcoming absence of their Uruguayan dynamo, Federico Valverde, will miss out on his side’s football match on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.
Valverde is Real Madrid’s best right-sided attacker, their best right-sided midfielder, and quite possibly their best right-sided full-back. He is the right side of the team, rampaging endlessly up and down the wing, causing cohesion and chaos all in one compressed bundle of energy.
He whirrs like a neutron star, pumping out energy in numbers only familiar to people who wear goggles and white lab coats to work, the people whose hair stands permanently on end and whose fingertips tingle near television screens as a result of being on the edge of human endeavour 365 days a year.
🔴 77' | 3-2 | Direct red card for Valverde.
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 22, 2026
Why is Fede Valverde not playing for Real Madrid against Mallorca?
The reason for Valverde’s absence is due to a red card he picked up in the Derbi Madrileño for a late challenge on Álex Baena. He was sent off straight away, and subsequently handed a one-game ban by the league overlords.
Fortunately that means he’ll be back in time for Madrid’s game against Girona, and of course the Bayern Munich Champions League first leg on Tuesday, which isn’t counted in the domestic ban.
Real Madrid sit second in LaLiga ahead of match day 30, and are 4 points behind Barcelona, who play Atlético Madrid later on Saturday evening.
Boom 📸 pic.twitter.com/bKH3ETT5n0
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 22, 2026
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