Valverde gave an interview to UEFA ‘s official channel, in which he analyzed the upcoming tie against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals: “You have to be happy and proud of what you are defending, of what you wear on your chest. The shirt makes you even bigger and stronger. All those leg pains are forgotten when you're coming out, when you see the crowd from the tunnel and hear the Champions League and Real Madrid anthems. It brings together a lot of emotion and a lot of pride.”
“You go out onto the pitch with that hunger that you know you’re equal to any challenge. It's a tremendous source of pride, it's an honor to wear the captain's armband. For me, it's spectacular.”
Ambition to win another Champions League
"To be honest, it will never be like the first one. The first one was magical, it will always be remembered. We always have that hunger to win, to keep achieving things and winning titles.”
Wearing the number 8
"At first, I spoke with my wife about it and I didn't want to take that number out of respect, more than anything else, for that person who wore it, Toni Kroos. I thought that a person who had defined so many things at the club, who had left such a mark... if it were up to me, I would even retire the number like they do in the NBA. When Kroos agreed to me wearing that number, my body relaxed and I said, 'It's my moment. I'm going to enjoy it. I'm not going to take it as a responsibility, but as something to enjoy every moment. Enjoy every day that I get to go out and train and have that number on my chest or on my back. Enjoy it as if it were my last day.”