Real Madrid manager José Mourinho has praised Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fede Valverde after a 2-1 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League win over Inter Milan on Tuesday.
Speaking after the match, Mourinho said both players worked well against Inter’s runners. Kylian Mbappé and Valverde scored the goals at the Santiago Bernabéu. “Trent played very well and interpreted what he had to do from a tactical point of view. Both he and Valverde worked very well against the runs of Jones and Barella. He had some ball losses because it’s not the same to play with the field in front of you as it is to have part of the field in front and part behind.”
Madrid face Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday.
The comments treat Alexander-Arnold as a tactical fit rather than a highlight reel. Mourinho is asking him to manage space both ahead and behind—the difference between a full-back who attacks into open grass and one who must also recover when Inter break. The “ball losses” are acknowledged, not excused: they are the cost of that dual job on a night when the game stayed open.
Valverde’s goal and his work against Nicolò Barella and Curtis Jones sit in the same sentence as the Englishman’s positioning. Credit is being shared between a scorer and a full-back asked to close running lanes.
A 2-1 win in the league phase is three points, not a finished European campaign. Mourinho’s public note is a reminder of what he wants repeated against Rayo and in the next midweek fixture: discipline in the half-spaces, not only the early punch that put Madrid in front. How Alexander-Arnold handles the field behind him over a longer run will decide whether this praise was a one-night verdict or the start of a defined role.
