> Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde had to be taken to hospital after getting into a fight with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni just three days before El Clásico against Barcelona, sources told ESPN. The fight broke out during training Thursday and comes just a day after Marca reported that the two midfielders had already been involved in an altercation during Wednesday’s training session.
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> Valverde, according to a source, required stitches after sustaining a cut during the scrap with Tchouaméni. Madrid announced they have opened disciplinary proceedings against both players.
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> “The club will announce the resolutions of both cases in due course, once the corresponding internal procedures have been completed,” the LaLiga club said in a statement.
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> A source has told ESPN that the fight broke out at the end of training, following a practice match with some heavy challenges. Tchouaméni went to the changing room, and Valverde then entered, looking very tense. That’s where they got into a fight, the source said.
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> A second source told ESPN that Valverde kicked Tchouaméni during training, then they insulted each other, and Tchouaméni went for Valverde and hit him badly. The tension between them started when Xabi Alonso was still at the club, the source added. ESPN has gotten in touch with Valverde’s entourage to hear his version of events, but they have declined to comment.
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> Last Friday, ESPN revealed that the bad results had moved into the dressing room, and that there had already been several incidents of tension since the start of the season. Sources told ESPN about another moment of tension when Antonio Rüdiger lost his nerve and caused a heated altercation with a teammate at Valdebebas.
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> ESPN did not reveal the name of the other person involved at the time, but Álvaro Carreras himself confirmed in a statement that he had had an altercation with a teammate. In that report, ESPN also revealed other arguments over the past few weeks between Real Madrid manager Álvaro Arbeloa and several of his players, including Dani Ceballos and another with Raúl Asencio.