Beijing time (CET+7) May 8th, according to Spanish radio station Cadena SER, Real Madrid is extremely dissatisfied and "ashamed" of the recent locker room conflict, and Valverde will face the club's most severe punishment.
After Xabi Alonso's departure and Arbeloa's succession as coach, Real Madrid has had a difficult season with nothing to show for it, and the tense atmosphere in the team's locker room has not eased. This tension culminated in an explosion this Wednesday, with Valverde and Tchouameni having a head-on conflict.
The situation escalated further this Thursday. During a regular training session, two fouls by Valverde on Tchouameni triggered a new round of dispute between the two. When teammates who rushed to the locker room noticed the abnormality, Valverde was semi-conscious, with blood flowing from his head. It is speculated that Valverde accidentally slipped during the scuffle, causing his head to hit the table in the center of the locker room. He was first sent to the clinic at the Valdebebas training base, and then transferred to the hospital for treatment.
Two days, two conflicts
Cadena SER reporter Alberto Pereiro explained on the "Radioestadio Noche" program that the conflict between the two on Wednesday stemmed from disagreements at the competitive level and "personality differences," but a conversation inside the locker room seemed to temporarily resolve the conflict. So why did Valverde refuse to shake hands with Tchouameni before the start of training on Thursday when Tchouameni tried to apologize again for "previously agreed topics"? Pereiro gave the answer: "Because Valverde believes that L'Équipe reported the events in training in too much detail, and he suspects that Tchouameni leaked the information."
"Since then, the training was completely out of control. As far as I know, Valverde's two fouls were close to the level of a formal match, which is completely different from the intensity of daily training. After the second foul, Arbeloa immediately expelled the two from the training ground and told them to return to the locker room. Someone then followed, and when they arrived, they found Valverde lying on the ground unconscious, while Tchouameni was standing aside. More teammates then entered the locker room, but other players only learned about all of this afterward, and did not know anything about it before."
After the incident, Arbeloa accompanied Valverde to the internal clinic in Valdebebas Sports City, and then decided to transfer him to the hospital for further treatment. The club also immediately intervened: "General Manager José Sánchez originally had a scheduled lunch, but immediately canceled his trip after hearing the news and rushed to Valdebebas. He first spoke with Tchouameni and Valverde, who had not yet been sent to the hospital. After Valverde returned from the hospital and regained consciousness, the two had another communication. After Sánchez collected the relevant information, he left and informed the two that the club would launch a disciplinary investigation into them." This investigation is expected to result in financial penalties and/or disciplinary actions for the two, and may even prevent them from playing in all remaining games this season.
According to Cadena SER reporter Alberto Pereiro, Real Madrid felt "ashamed" of the situation in the locker room and decided to punish the players involved—"because the president wants it that way," but he also clarified that the club has no intention of kicking either of them off the team under any circumstances. In addition, he said that "the most severe punishment" will be aimed at Valverde, because "he is regarded as the captain and core player of the locker room and should have played an exemplary role, and his importance to the club and teammates is not as great as Tchouameni's."
However, why did Valverde and Tchouameni get to this point? Reporter Edu Pidal explained that the relationship between the two was not so bad, but there have been conflicts in the Real Madrid locker room throughout the season, and Xabi Alonso's departure has exacerbated the situation : "When this kind of conflict occurs, everyone will express their opinions on the cause. Some people believe that someone's performance, behavior, or words indirectly led to Alonso's departure." Tchouameni was Alonso's "direct descendant" during his coaching period, while Valverde was not. The reporter emphasized that this kind of factional struggle is common in the football world. "The problem is that they intensified the conflict to the point where it could not be resolved."
Another player who has recently become the focus of outside criticism is French star Mbappé. After training on Thursday, the cameras waiting at the exit of the Valdebebas training base filmed him rolling down the car window and laughing loudly. The host of "Radioestadio Noche" said that yesterday was obviously not the right time for Mbappé to "laugh loudly," especially since he is the "flagship player of the team" and should take the team's image into consideration.
International media have described the recent chaos in the Real Madrid locker room as a "scandal" or a "full-blown crisis." French media L'Équipe wrote in the headline of the digital version of its front page: "Real Madrid implodes before the Clasico," and added that "the crisis has fully erupted."
Major European media also followed up with reports on the matter. Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport opened its report with "Real Madrid in chaos"; Germany's Bild wrote: "Real Madrid seems to be in a state of emergency on the eve of the decisive Clasico against Barcelona"; Britain's Daily Telegraph pointed out: "First-team sources reveal that negative emotions within the Real Madrid team have reached a critical point after a season without a title."