Real Madrid: Tchouameni ‘struck’ Valverde after being ‘provoked’ before, during and after training | OneFootball

A fresh report into the chaos at the Real Madrid training ground this week has revealed that Aurelien Tchouameni did indeed ‘strike’ Federico Valverde, but the Uruguayan absolutely had it coming.

‘Tensions have risen’ in Valdebebas to the point where Valverde was hospitalised with a ‘traumatic brain injury’ on Thursday following an altercation with Tchouameni in what Spanish outlet Marca reported to be ‘the most serious ever’ incident in a famously fraught environment.

Valverde detailed his ‘anger’ which led to the incident in an incredible 425-word statement on social media but claimed that ‘at no point has my teammate hit me, nor have I hit him’, instead revealing that he ‘accidentally hit a table’ during the altercation.

Supposed ‘leaked DMs’ from Tchouameni then gave his side of an astonishing story. He backed up Valverde’s version of events, insisting “I didn’t punch him”.

But The Athletic have been told by club insiders that Tchouameni did ‘strike’ Valverde as one source present at the training ground told the outlet that it was “very sad, everything that is happening” and that “the club has a huge problem.”

The issues began, or at least first boiled over, on Wednesday when Tchouameni ‘took exception’ to an ‘overly strong tackle’ by Valverde before teammates stepped in in the dressing room to ‘de-escalate’ as the dispute continued.

Club sources claim that the two ‘made their peace’ after that first incident but that evidently wasn’t the case as Valverde ‘shook hand with everybody apart from Tchouameni’ when he arrived for training on Thursday.

Valverde then ‘hit Tchouameni with a series of strong challenges’ in training that the Frenchman ‘did not react’ to.

Coaching staff wisely decided to keep the pair on the same team when the group was split into two teams, at which point Valverde suggested to Tchouameni that ‘he was lucky to avoid facing him’.

After the session, Tchouameni called Valverde over to him and was ‘insulted’ by the Uruguayan, at which point Tchouameni ‘struck’ Valverde, the pair tussled, Valverde banged his head on a table and ‘lost consciousness’.

Tchouameni was as ‘concerned’ as anyone as Valverde lay ‘bleeding’ before regaining consciousness and being taken to hospital.

Real Madrid confirmed on Thursday evening that they have ‘decided to open disciplinary proceedings against our players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouameni’.

While it’s not clear what the punishment will be, ‘sources close to two senior players speculated it would be “impossible” for both Valverde and Tchouameni to stay at the club’.

Several sources said ‘Valverdewas to blame after provoking Tchouameni’, while one said the 27-year-old “has been like this all year” and has an attitude “unworthy of a captain”.