Tchouaméni says he never fought with Valverde

Aurélien Tchouaméni acknowledges that “something ugly” happened with Fede Valverde, but says the pair never fought. The Real Madrid midfielder spoke on The Bridge, in comments reported by As, and again rejected the suggestion of a fight between the two players.

“People talk a lot, but there was no fight between Valverde and me. Yes, things happen in a dressing room, but we never fought,” he said. Tchouaméni conceded that there had been “something ugly”, while arguing that the story had been blown out of proportion because it involved Real Madrid. “Something that wasn’t necessarily a problem ends up becoming one,” he said.

The Frenchman added that people had called him to find out what had happened and whether he was all right. He said he had needed to reassure them, while stressing the need for discretion. To make his point, he referred to an NFL documentary in which, he said, this kind of situation occurs often. Tchouaméni had previously said that the two players had made peace.

The comments come as Real Madrid prepare for the Clásico against Barcelona, on Sunday 25 October at Camp Nou. José Mourinho has not revealed which of six possible midfield partnerships he will choose. The Portuguese coach has also said he expects his midfielders to perform the full range of duties required in the role: a player limited to defending, or to attacking, does not meet that standard.

Valverde’s role in midfield is among the questions facing the team. He has occupied one of the two midfield positions in 10 of the 12 matches played so far. He has partnered Tchouaméni four times, Bernardo Silva three times, Camavinga twice and Trent once. In the last two matches, Valverde has moved out of the double pivot but remained in Real Madrid’s starting line-up.

After the win over Leipzig, Mourinho said he was pleased with the experiment, adding that Camavinga had made him forget Tchouaméni and Bernardo had made him forget Arda, who also played as a right winger. Amid the competition for places and the tactical decisions to come, Tchouaméni sought to distinguish the tensions discussed around the dressing room from an actual physical altercation.