"We would like to once again congratulate Real Madrid on continuing to make history by proving that 100% of the global medical community was wrong." With that sarcastic tweet, Atletico Madrid reignited the Fede Valverde controversy.
Real Madrid had announced that the Uruguayan midfielder suffered a third-degree ankle sprain after a strong challenge from Kang-in Lee in the derby. The club demanded the player's immediate dismissal for it. Yet Valverde returned to the squad list just 17 days after that official statement.
Atletico pounced on the chance to mock the "Valverde miracle". Three weeks on, the echoes of the derby still rumble, and the club wasted no time stirring up controversy around an incident that caused so much uproar, both during the match and afterwards when the medical report dropped.
Real Madrid kept Valverde's return under wraps for as long as they could, right up until they named the squad for Saturday's clash with Villarreal. The captain, injured in the derby against Atletico, came through the final training session without any problems. That made him available to Jose Mourinho for the first match after the international break, 17 days on from the medical report.
Trace the injury back to the derby of 20 September, which Real Madrid lost 2-1 at the Metropolitano. The Uruguayan took a strong challenge from Kang-in Lee in the first half. That incident, along with Cristian Romero's challenge on Jude Bellingham, prompted fierce criticism of the officiating from the club's board. Valverde finished the match despite the blow, and concerns only emerged after the final whistle when clear swelling appeared at the site of the injury.
Two statements followed. The first, issued immediately after the derby, reported a "strong injury to the left ankle". Two days later, on 22 September, further tests delivered the final diagnosis: a "third-degree sprain in the left ankle", with his recovery period left "subject to ongoing assessment".
Now, after the international break, Valverde is fit and available for Mourinho. That handed Atletico Madrid the chance to "congratulate them" on his swift recovery, reigniting the row from a derby played three weeks ago.