Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has denied reports of a physical fight with teammate and club captain Federico Valverde that allegedly rocked the dressing room last season. The incident prompted the club to take disciplinary action against both players, with each reportedly fined more than USD 500,000.
At the time, it was reported that the Frenchman and his Uruguayan teammate had had a row during a training session at Real Madrid's Valdebebas training ground. Real Madrid also said that Valverde had sustained head trauma and was expected to be out for approximately 10-14 days as he recovered.
Tchouameni has now sought to play down reports of a physical altercation, acknowledging an unpleasant incident took place, but insisting he never came to blows with Valverde. The French midfielder said disagreements and minor scuffles can happen in a dressing room.
"I want to clear things up. There was no fight between us. Yes, it's true that things happen in the changing room," he told The Bridge (via AS).
"In a changing room there are little scuffles and things like that, but I never came to blows with Valverde. It's true that there was something unpleasant happened.
"The only problem with all this is that when you’re at Real Madrid, anything - however small - gets blown out of all proportion and becomes a media circus. Something that wasn't necessarily a problem ends up becoming one."
{{/usCountry}}"The only problem with all this is that when you’re at Real Madrid, anything - however small - gets blown out of all proportion and becomes a media circus. Something that wasn't necessarily a problem ends up becoming one."
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“No problem between us”
Tchouameni insisted there is no tension between him and Valverde. They've moved on from that incident completely and have a great relationship with each other both in the dressing room and on the pitch, he said.
"If you walk into the dressing room today, as the coach said, you'll see that Fede and I are fine; there's no problem between us.
"On the pitch, there's no problem either – life goes on. And in fact, even these things bring you closer to the other person. We're fine; we don't have any problems," he added.
Real Madrid are currently third in the Spanish league table. They take on leaders and arch rivals Barcelona at Camp Nou on Monday (IST).