The mysterious reason why Federico Valverde went to the bench at halftime against Union Berlin

Real Madrid reached the close of the group stage of the Champions League with several soldiers fallen and others injured due to the demanding nature of the calendar in the first half. Manchester United's sporting reality has been in crisis for many years. Since the departure of Alex Ferguson, the Red Devils could not find accurate leadership and a decade after his departure they are still looking for the coach who, for example, can make them Premier League champions.

10 are also the years that one of the greats of English football has not won the local title since he did it in the 2012-13 season with the Scottish coach on the substitute bench. The truth is that with Erik Ten Hag, their current coach, the sporting aspect could not be corrected and the last straw seems to be the painful elimination from the UEFA Champions League after finishing in last position in a group that they shared with Bayern Munich, Copenhagen (both qualified) and Galatasaray (qualified for the Europa League).

To this we must add that the Red Devils are sixth in the Premier League and therefore out of the Champions League positions for next season and that is why the Dutchman's hours seem to be numbered. By the way, there are already names that are rumored to take his place on the substitute bench and beyond the fact that technicians such as Zinedine Zidane and Graham Potter appeared in the press, there is one who is beginning to take advantage.

In that sense, the reference is for the Spanish Julen Lopetegui who had recent experience in the Premier League directing Wolverhampton for 27 games with 10 wins, five draws and 12 losses. He was coach of the Spanish national team, Real Madrid, Seville and Porto, among others, but it was in Merengue where he was very important for a Uruguayan footballer like Federico Valverde, to the point that he was the coach who made him debut in the First Division.

The story of Facundo Pellistri

Precisely against Manchester United, in a friendly, he gave him his first minutes and shortly after he got the chance to make his official debut in the UEFA Champions League against Viktoria Plzen. If he joins the English team, he could meet another Uruguayan footballer who, like Pajarito at the time, has already made his debut in the Uruguayan team, but does not have too many minutes like Facundo Pellistri.