Controversy in the Real Madrid dressing room – Valverde and Tchouameni are fined one million euros

Real Madrid fined players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni half a million euros on Friday for their argument during training.

The hefty fines came a day after the midfielders struggled with each other in training. Valverde said in a social media post on Thursday that no punches were thrown. The argument ended when Valverde hit his head on a table, said he suffered a small cut and went to a hospital.

The incident prompted Madrid to launch disciplinary proceedings against the team-mates, and the fines reflected the reputational damage the club suffered after a chaotic end to a disappointing season.

In a statement, the 15-time European champions said the disciplinary action had ended after both players expressed to the club “their full regret for what happened and apologized to each other.”

Madrid added that the duo also apologized to their teammates, the club’s coaching staff and supporters, and showed their willingness to accept any disciplinary action the club deemed ‘appropriate’.

Tchouaméni trained with Madrid again on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona The classic. Madrid must win or Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champions.

Valverde was not present at training due to the headbutt.

The clash between the players, who have played next to each other in Madrid’s midfield for seasons, came after they had an argument during previous training this week. But emotions ran high on Thursday. The Spanish media is full of reports that the players previously disagreed over the club’s decision to let coach Xabi Alonso leave after just months in the job.

Madrid are facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy.

Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid’s reserve side when Alonso was sacked in January, will face tough questions about what went wrong in the dressing room when he gives a press conference ahead of the Clásico at Camp Nou on Saturday.

Published on May 9, 2026