Barcelona locker room stunned by the chaos at Real Madrid | OneFootball

The incident involving Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde during Thursday’s Real Madrid training session, which ended with the Uruguayan being taken to a hospital, has dominated the sports headlines in the past 24 hours.

Both players have been hit with a hefty fine of €500,000 each by Real Madrid for disciplinary breaches.

Barcelona players amazed

Now, according to AS, the altercation between Tchouameni and Valverde dominated conversations among FC Barcelona players during Friday’s training session with the squad stunned by what went down.

Most within the squad acknowledged that the intense media attention surrounding the situation could ultimately damage Real Madrid, who now appear more focused on stopping the flood of dressing-room leaks than preparing for Sunday’s Clasico.

In fact, the first direct consequence of the altercation is Valverde’s confirmed absence for the match at Camp Nou due to a head injury.

Barcelona stunned by Real Madrid problems. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Inside the Barça dressing room, there was also some disbelief and irony surrounding Real Madrid’s internal crisis, because of how surreal the situation appeared, with two players fighting, teammates watching, and Kylian Mbappe leaving Valdebebas laughing.

It has, however, been reported that Mbappe had left the training facilities before the incident took place.

At the same time, several Barça players privately criticised the attitude of the Uruguayan midfielder, who refused to accept Tchouameni’s apology before training after another incident between the pair on Wednesday.

There was also surprise at Alvaro Arbeloa’s apparent lack of intervention, allowing tensions to continue escalating before exploding again into a physical confrontation after the session.

Within the camp, there is a clear feeling that the circumstances in which Real Madrid arrive for the Clasico favour Barcelona.

However, there is equally strong awareness that Real Madrid cannot be underestimated, especially as beating Barça now represents their final chance to salvage some pride from what has otherwise been a disastrous season in every sense.