Carlo Ancelotti, the head coach of Real Madrid, made fun of Fede Valverde after his team beat Leganes 3-0, saying that he is “the best right back in the world” after Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez.

Because of injuries to the other players named, the Uruguayan had to fill in at Butarque on Sunday.

While Carvajal is expected to miss the rest of the season through an ACL tear, Vazquez was tipped to be out for another fortnight or so following a knock he picked up last time out in a 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna where Ancelotti lost three men in the first half alone.

Los Blancos won their last two games to finish out the weekend. They are now in a good position to cut FC Barcelona’s lead to just one point if Barcelona also wins its delayed game against Valencia.

Valverde scored Madrid’s second goal with a well-placed shot from a free kick. Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham had already scored.

Ancelotti told his defense after the game that they did “very well at the back” and praised Valverde and youngster center-back Raul Asencio.

“The back of us did great. Asencio took the game very seriously and played very well and with maturity. “Valverde is a great full-back,” Ancelotti said with a laugh.

“The best fullback in the world after Carvajal and Lucas.” He can play this way in a lot of different places on the field, which makes it hard for the coach to pick the best spot for the team. “He is really fast,” the Italian said. It’s still unclear if Vazquez and Aurelien Tchouameni will be able to play in the Champions League match at Anfield next week against Premier League leaders Liverpool. This means that Valverde could start at right back.

“This is something I need to think about,” Ancelotti said. It’s easy for us to defend the middle because [Eduardo] Camavinga is playing at his best, [Dani] Ceballos has played a great game, and [Luka] Modric always does well… I’ll have to make these decisions when I can watch the whole game again and see if I can get someone back for Wednesday.

Ancelotti was happy with how his team played overall at Leganes and with them “becoming more compact and focused.”

He smiled and said, “Things are going well.” “The team does well because everyone does their part.” In the middle, Ceballos has made a big difference. Arda Guler was very creative in the final third, and he came close to getting a goal. He also played a full game.

“They are players that we can count on at the moment because the demand of the matches is very high and we need everyone,” Ancelotti said.