Barcelona can clinch LaLiga if they do not lose to Real Madrid in El Clasico on Monday AEST, in a match where Los Blancos’ preparation has been overshadowed by dressing room acrimony and Kylian Mbappe has also not been named in the squad as he continues to nurse a hamstring complaint.
Barca, meanwhile, look set to welcome Raphinha back from injury.
Hansi Flick’s side hold an 11-point lead over Alvaro Arbeloa’s outfit with four matches to play, and in an equation of historical scale – never before have Barcelona actually sealed the league title in an El Clasico contest, in what would be the ultimate insult to their fierce rivals.
A draw is enough for the title to be secured.
Madrid come into this match after a horror week, where [Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni with half-a-million-euro ($A813,000) fines after the two players had an altercation during practice.](https://football360.com.au/valverde-tchouameni-el-clasico-barcelona-real-madrid/)
“The players have acknowledged their mistake, expressed their regret and asked for forgiveness. That’s enough for me,” Arbeloa told reporters.
“These two players deserve for us to turn the page and allow them to keep fighting for this club. I’m very proud of them. I won’t allow this to be used to question their professionalism.”
Uruguayan Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown.
But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde had initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion.”
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both players with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player.
The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
Arbeloa tried to play down the incident.
“I’ve had a team-mate who picked up a golf club and swung it at another player,” he said, referencing an incident at Liverpool between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise in 2007.
“What happens in the Real Madrid dressing room should stay in the Real Madrid dressing room, and that’s what hurts me the most.”
He continued: “These are situations that have always happened, although I’m certainly not justifying it.
“It was an incident and we were unfortunate that Fede ended up with a gash. It was more bad luck than anything else.”
Under pressure, and unlikely to be retained next season after replacing Xabi Alonso earlier this term, Arbeloa nominated himself as the fall guy for this altercation. “If you want to blame someone, here I am,” he said.
Flick seemed bemused by the incident.
“Things like this happen all over the world, so I don’t think it’s something exclusive to Real Madrid.
“Was I surprised? Maybe a little, but in the end I don’t really care, because it’s not my club and not my team, so I shouldn’t be thinking about it.”
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