Real Madrid’s players will return to training this morning but the chaos that has engulfed the club in the last 48 hours shows no sign of clearing.
Arguably the most famous club in world football is in crisis with one of their players resting at home after suffering a brain injury in a dressing room fracas with a team-mate, numerous reports of squad members not speaking to each other for months and one player leaking all of this to a hungry media.
Often in these situations, the football itself can usher away the clouds but that is highly unlikely here. Next up for Madrid? A trip to arch rivals Barcelona, who will retain the title with a draw that looks impossible not to predict given the state of affairs in the capital.
They are lapping this up in Catalonia, of course – a video emerged yesterday of Robert Lewandowski and Wojciech Szczesny enjoying a play fight in a clear attempt to mock Madrid.
What do we know?
Reports emerged yesterday afternoon of a training ground incident involving Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. Real Madrid later confirmed an investigation had been opened and said the Uruguay international was at home after being briefly hospitalised due to a cranioencephalic trauma, a form of concussion.
It is thought the pair had clashed on Wednesday and an attempt by Tchouameni to talk it out 24 hours later had led to another confrontation.
Star striker Kylian Mbappe was spotted leaving the training ground laughing hysterically. Mbappe’s conduct has also been questioned in the last week after he was spotted on holiday off the coast of Sardinia last weekend as he fights to overcome a hamstring injury. An online petition calling for Madrid to sell the France captain in the summer has now reached almost 46million signatures.
An emergency meeting involving club president Florentino Perez, head coach Alvaro Arbeloa and captain Dani Carvajal was reportedly held yesterday evening.
What have the players said?
Tchaoumeni has yet to give his version of events but Valverde took to social media last night, insisting there had been no punches thrown and that he had sustained the injury as a result of falling onto a table.
Valverde wrote: “Yesterday I had an incident with a team-mate during a training session. The fatigue from competition and the frustration made everything seem blown out of proportion. In a normal locker room, these things can happen and are usually resolved internally without it becoming public knowledge.
“Clearly, someone here is spreading rumours, and with a season without titles, where Real Madrid is always under scrutiny, everything gets blown out of proportion. Today we had another disagreement.
“During the argument, I accidentally hit a table, causing a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital. At no point did my team-mate hit me, and I didn’t hit him either, although I understand it’s easier for you to believe we came to blows or that it was intentional, but that didn’t happen.”
Real Madrid searching for dressing room mole
Another intriguing element to the story is the fact details of dressing room discord are being leaked to the press.
Madrid were said to be seeking information as to the mole’s identity this morning but Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo claim it is Vinicius Jr.
The Brazil international is known to be close to Arbeloa having endured a miserable time under his predecessor Xabi Alonso. And Mundo suggest he is trying to protect Arbeloa by highlighting the issues that exist and indicating it is a dressing room that is impossible to manage.
Vinicius has just 13 months left on his contract and has yet to sign a new deal despite ongoing talks.
So what now for Real Madrid?
Madrid will fly to Barcelona tomorrow with all eyes on the players, their demeanour, body language and how they interact with each other.
Arbeloa’s line-up could also give clues as to how he is feeling. Valverde has already been ruled out and it seems inconceivable Tchouameni will play despite the importance of the fixture.
There will, undoubtedly, be a major summer overhaul. Arbeloa will leave, as will several players, including Tchouameni as Perez tries to reassert his authority after a year to forget.
