Atlético Madrid poked fun at Real Madrid on social media after midfielder Federico Valverde recovered from injury to be included in Saturday’s squad to face Villarreal in LaLiga.
Valverde suffered an ankle sprain in the Madrid Derby before the international break after a crunching tackle from Atletico’s Kang-in Lee, which Spain’s refereeing committee later admitted should have resulted in a red card.
Madrid’s complaints over the challenge — which included coach José Mourinho holding up a printed-out photo of the incident in his post-match news conference — were backed up by Valverde’s injury, which the club said was a serious “grade three” sprain.
However, Valverde was then named in Madrid’s matchday squad to face Villarreal at the Bernabéu on Saturday, in the team’s return to action in LaLiga, 20 days later.
“We want to congratulate Real Madrid for continuing to make history by proving that 100% of the global medical community was wrong,” Atlético tweeted on Friday after the squad announcement.
A grade three ankle sprain is the most serious category, classified as a severe sprain, involving a complete tear of the ligament.
It would usually be expected to require a recovery time of at least several weeks, or as long as several months.
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Atlético have made a habit of hitting out at rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona on social media.
In the summer, they reacted to Barcelona’s interest in signing Julián Alvarez by posting a series of tongue-in-cheek offers for Barça’s own stars, while they responded to Mourinho’s news conference photos with a post involving a printer.
