Federico Valverde: Real Madrid fans want statue of midfielder after match-saving tackle 

Federico Valverde ironically won the Spanish Super Cup for Real Madrid after denying Alvaro Morata a one-on-one chance with Thibaut Courtois in the final.

With six minutes left to play in extra time, a mistake by Dani Carvajal saw Angel Correa release a pass to Morata who was clearly goal-bound.

But a defining tackle from Valverde from behind impeded the Spanish striker and was immediately shown a straight red card by the referee.

The match went into penalties as Los Blancos converted four of their spot-kicks to win the match by 4-1 and lift the Super Cup.

Valverde who was given the man-of-the-match award apologized to Morata, admitting he did wrong to the Spaniard.

“I apologize to Alvaro Morata. I know it’s not good what I did but I didn’t have any other option,” the Uruguayan midfielder said.

But fans have gone crazy for the 21-year-old midfielder who they believe he technically won the trophy for Los Merengues.

One fan said:

“Is it too early to build a statue outside the Bernabeu for Federico Valverde?” Another added: “Build a statue for Fede Valverde outside the Bernabeu.”

A third tweet said:

“These types of challenges when you trophies. When you take one for the team. Who knows what would have happened. Bravo, Federico Valverde.”

With the Spanish Super Cup trophy, Zinedine Zidane has now won all of his nine finals as manager of Real Madrid since 2016.