Federico Valverde in hospital after fight with Aurelien Tchouameni in Real Madrid locker room | OneFootball

Real Madrid players Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni were reportedly involved in a heated bust-up in the club’s locker room that has led to the Uruguayan being treated in hospital.

Valverde is said to have suffered a cut to his head after hitting the table during a physical altercation with Madrid teammate Tchouameni.

This is not the first time the pair have come to blows, according to Marca, but it seems to be the most serious incident yet, with a maximum punishment thought to be awaiting the players.

See below for more information on the Valverde-Tchouameni fight

It seems disciplinary proceedings are now set to go ahead, with this really being far from what Real Madrid needed after some disappointing results in a frustrating season, and with a huge game against rivals Barcelona coming up next.

How Real Madrid players lost their discipline

Speaking to CaughtOffside, Spanish football expert Ruairidh Barlow, editor of Football Espana, provided some background to this crazy story coming out of Madrid.

“The Valverde-Tchouameni tension is not something that we have heard about before this week, but it is symptomatic of a volcanic dressing room right now,” Barlow told us.

“In that specific incident, after a fight on Wednesday, Valverde reportedly refused to shake Tchouameni’s hand, which led to another training session of intense tackles, and culminated in the fight.

“More widely, it’s just the latest incident in a number of feuds ongoing. As many as six players are supposedly not talking to manager Alvaro Arbeloa. Dani Ceballos, Raul Asencio and Dani Carvajal have all fallen out with Arbeloa, and the latter’s frustration led to an injury to a youth player after a rash tackle.

“In the past week, we’ve heard about Kylian Mbappe getting angry at a member of the coaching staff, and Antonio Rudiger getting physical with Alvaro Carreras too.

“On the whole, the consensus is that this is the product of a dressing room that has been without leaders for some time, and without a manager to impose authority. With President Florentino Perez backing his stars over managers, and doing little to curb their behaviour himself, the lack of discipline has descended into the chaos we’re seeing this week.”

Kylian Mbappe sees the funny side as Real Madrid descends into chaos

At least Kylian Mbappe seemed in a good mood as he was pictured laughing on his way out of Real Madrid training today.

See below for footage originally captured by El Chiringuito, which shows Mbappe in good spirits despite the apparent chaos unfolding behind the scenes…

Mbappe himself has been at the centre of some controversy recently as Madrid truly enters meltdown mode.

The France international recently had an injury problem that saw him given permission to take a holiday, but this did not go down well with some fans, as a petition pushing for him to leave the club is rapidly gaining momentum.

A video explainer below from Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol sums everything up nicely, with the feeling being that Mbappe is being made a scapegoat for the team’s problems, and, honestly, when you hear about the incident between Valverde and Tchouameni it’s hard not to agree that there are bigger problems at the Bernabeu right now…

Real are known for being a club of superstars with big egos, but that has usually helped them to great success throughout their history.

At the moment, though, they’re going through a difficult period, with the team set to finish trophyless this season, while they’ve gone out of the Champions League early both this year and last.

Who can solve Real Madrid crisis?

With Xabi Alonso leaving his position as manager earlier this season, Alvaro Arbeloa has been unable to steady the ship during his time as interim manager.

A new long-term appointment will be needed this summer, and it may be that a strict disciplinarian like Jose Mourinho is needed to put things in order.

Having said that, the Portuguese tactician is also known for being a bit of a difficult character himself, so that could perhaps just make things worse.

Los Blancos fans will surely want the legendary Zinedine Zidane back, but ESPN have reported on him agreeing to become the next manager of the French national team…