‘Manager shouldn’t have played him’ – Barcelona midfielder speaks out on Real Madrid dressing room chaos | OneFootball

Barcelona midfielder Gavi has spoken openly about Real Madrid and the recent dressing room controversy involving Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde.

In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona midfielder was asked about the altercation between the two Real Madrid players. 

As expected, tensions within the Real Madrid dressing room escalated after arguments between Tchouameni and Valverde on consecutive days eventually led to a physical confrontation.

The incident ended with Valverde requiring stitches and both players receiving heavy fines from the club.

What did Gavi say?

Gavi did not avoid the topic and offered a direct response when asked about the situation. Speaking about dressing room competitiveness, the Barcelona midfielder said, 

Gavi spoke about the Valverde-Tchouameni feud. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

“I’m one of those who believes there’s always going to be a bit of rivalry with your teammates during training at some point in the season, because that’s just how it is. 

“It’s competitiveness, and that’s always fine up to a point, obviously.”

Continuing his thoughts, Gavi added: “But in the end, if it comes to blows, then the manager shouldn’t have played him. 

“If it’s true they came to blows, then in my view he was wrong to select him (Tchouameni) and put him on. But I don’t know the full story of what happened either.”

More to the story

Gavi spoke about beating Real Madrid at Camp Nou. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The Barcelona midfielder also addressed criticism coming from Real Madrid after Barça secured the La Liga title. Defending Barcelona’s achievements, Gavi stated, 

“It’s always going to be like that. Everyone knows that Madrid will always belittle or downplay our achievements or our titles. So we shouldn’t let that bother us.”

Furthermore, the Barcelona midfielder also spoke about the recent El Clasico that secured the La Liga title and admitted he specifically wanted the trophy to be won against Madrid directly in front of the Camp Nou crowd.

“To be honest, I wanted Madrid to beat Espanyol so that we could beat them at our ground in front of our own fans. 

“And that’s exactly what happened. Much better for me,” he added.