Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde was taken to hospital to have stitches after a second confrontation with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni in two days, as the club’s collapse into chaos continues.
Players held an an emergency meeting and Real have opened disciplinary proceedings after a punch was thrown, blood was spilled and Valverde was taken for treatment, initially in a wheelchair. It is the latest episode in a catalogue of problems at the club; they will almost certainly end a second successive season without a trophy, Álvaro Arbeloa will not continue as coach, and the dressing room divide widens by the day. Real travel to Barcelona for the clásico on Sunday.
Valverde and Tchouaméni almost came to blows during an argument in training on Wednesday which continued into the dressing room, with teammates intervening to separate the pair as they pushed each other. Then, 24 hours later, the sports newspaper Marca revealed that on Thursday Tchouaméni had punched Valverde. The Uruguay international fell and hit his face, opening up a gash.
Valverde was taken to the medical department at Valdebebas and from there to the nearby Hospital Blua Sanitas Valdebebas, where he was given stitches. Cameras caught the 27-year-old’s car going back and forth from the training ground, although the Uruguay midfielder was not visible inside.
The incident began when Valverde refused to shake Tchouaméni’s hand as he arrived at training, accusing him of having leaked the story of the previous day’s fight. The France midfielder denied doing so and insisted that the accusations had to stop, but Valverde persisted. With Valverde not letting up, even as other players tried to calm the situation down, Tchouaméni hit him. Valverde connected with the corner of a table as he fell.
As he was taken for treatment, an emergency meeting was held in the dressing room. Valverde was back at home on Thursday afternoon. The club captain, Dani Carvajal, was seen returning to Valdebebas for further discussions with members of the club.
The incident comes a few days after left-back Álvaro Carreras confirmed that he had been hit by Antonio Rüdiger in an incident he said had been “resolved”. Kylian Mbappé confronted a member of Arbeloa’s backroom staff during another recent session and had to defend himself against criticism that he travelled to Italy with his girlfriend while he was recovering from injury. Midfielder Dani Ceballos has been left out of the squad after a confrontation with Arbeloa, and the beginning of the end for the former head coach Xabi Alonso came when Vinícius Júnior stormed off during the clásico in October.
Back then Real were five points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga. Going into this Sunday’s game they are 11 points behind their bitter rivals with four matches remaining. If they do not win, Barcelona will be crowned champions.