Real Madrid missing Valverde, Guler, Lunin

Real Madrid go into Saturday’s La Liga home game against Athletic Club with Federico Valverde, Arda Güler and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin among the players not yet back in full availability, according to the club’s latest training updates. The club’s official website lists the match at the Santiago Bernabéu for Saturday, May 23, at 9:00 p.m. CEST, the final league fixture of Madrid’s season. Ticket sales on the club site remained open this week, with general-public prices starting at 60 euros and VIP options from 325 euros. ### Which absences are actually confirmed by Real Madrid? Real Madrid said on May 16, before the Sevilla match, that Valverde had completed only part of training with the group. The same club update said Lunin was continuing his recovery from a viral process, while Arda Güler remained in his recovery process. (realmadrid.com) Real Madrid’s homepage on May 21 carried a new item saying the team was preparing for Athletic Club, but the search snippets available from the club site did not show those three players had returned. That leaves the May 16 medical and training status as the latest directly attributable club guidance surfaced in official pages available here. ### Why are social posts talking about a “farewell night” at the Bernabéu? (realmadrid.com) Managing Madrid described Real Madrid’s final home league game against Athletic Club as a “Farewell Night at the Bernabéu” in a preview published on May 21. The club’s own site separately shows the game as the last La Liga match on Madrid’s 2025-26 schedule. (realmadrid.com) Real Madrid’s news pages this week also featured “Thank you, Carvajal!” and “Carvajal: ‘Hasta siempre, Real Madrid,’” adding to the end-of-season ceremony around the match. Those club items help explain why ticket sellers and fans on social media have framed the fixture as more than a routine final-round game. ### What do the ticket listings show? Real Madrid’s official tickets page lists the Athletic Club match for Saturday, May 23, at 9:00 p.m. at the Bernabéu. (managingmadrid.com) The same page says general-public tickets start at 60 euros, with VIP tickets from 325 euros. A separate official match page for the fixture was also live this week, matching the date and opponent. Social-media resale posts cited in the upstream briefing appeared alongside those official listings, but the club’s own pages independently confirm that tickets were on sale for the season finale. (realmadrid.com) ### How much could those missing players matter on the field? (realmadrid.com) LaLiga’s match page lists Valverde and Güler among Real Madrid’s statistical leaders this season, with Valverde credited with five league goals and Güler with 19 shots. Lunin’s absence would matter in goalkeeping depth rather than the starting spot if Thibaut Courtois is available. (realmadrid.com) The official training report from May 16 did not say any of the three would be available by the Athletic Club match. It said only that Valverde trained partly with the group, while Lunin and Güler were still in recovery processes. ### When is the next hard checkpoint for lineup certainty? (laliga.com) Saturday, May 23, is the next hard checkpoint, because Real Madrid’s match listing names that date and kickoff time for the Athletic Club game at the Bernabéu. The club typically publishes a squad call closer to kickoff on its official channels, which would provide the clearest confirmation of whether Valverde, Güler or Lunin make the matchday list. (realmadrid.com 1) (realmadrid.com 2)