Uruguay international Valverde is determined to finish an impressive season on a high when the LaLiga champions face the formidable Reds in Paris and he joked that lifting the ‘unique’ trophy could require surprising sacrifices.
‘It’s a unique trophy for any player in the world. I’m willing to give so many things. Except my son… maybe my wife.
‘No, no – it’s a joke. But I’d give a lot it’s not every day you manage to play in a final. Hopefully we can win the title.’
Argentinian reporter and presenter Bonino was pictured on the pitch with the couple’s two-year-old son, Bonicio, at the Bernabeu after Madrid beat Espanyol to win their domestic title with four games to spare on April 30.
Bonino shared a photo of the family on the turf on her heavily-followed Instagram account, causing Valverde to respond: ‘I love you so much.’
Valverde played the entire 120 minutes four days later as Madrid earned a remarkable semi-final victory by beating Manchester City in the second leg at home, scoring twice after the 90th minute before Karim Benzema added the decisive penalty in extra time
The 23-year-old named ‘all of them’ as the opposition player he is most worried about in the final at the Stade de France, adding: ‘If I name one, that would be a lack of respect to the other Liverpool players.
‘It’s a great squad and they’re well trained in every part of the pitch. Their players on the bench are in great form, too when the come on, they turn games around. They’re a great team, from first to last.
‘If only everything was down to what’s deserved. If it came down to that, maybe we would get the title.’
Mohamed Salah’s claim that he would prefer to play Madrid to Manchester City and was targeting revenge for Liverpool’s painful 2017-18 final defeat left Valverde unimpressed earlier this week.
Valverde had said the Premier League joint golden boot winner’s words were ‘like disrespecting the Real Madrid badge’.
‘But the main thing is to approach things with humility and effort again on Saturday, keep fighting until the end as we’ve done in recent games and hope that the boost we can get from the supporters helps us a lot,’ he added to AS
