Federico Valverde will miss Sunday’s El Clasico after sustaining a head injury in a dressing-room altercation with his Real Madrid team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni.
Real said in a statement on Thursday that medical tests had diagnosed Valverde with “a cranioencephalic trauma” and that he would “need to rest for 10 to 14 days, as indicated by medical protocols for this diagnosis.”
Real Madrid face rivals Barcelona on Sunday with the Catalan club knowing that if they avoid defeat they will win the Liga title, which would be the first time either side has won the Spanish league title in this fixture.
In a separate statement, the club said that it had also “decided to open disciplinary proceedings against” Valverde and Tchouameni after “incidents that occurred this morning during the first team’s training session.”
“The club will provide updates on the resolutions of both proceedings once the corresponding internal procedures have been completed,” the statement added.
It comes after reports from Spain said that Valverde had been “taken to hospital” following a dressing-room altercation with Tchouameni.
In a subsequent statement, Valverde said the pair were involved in a fight at the team’s training ground on Thursday, a day after a previous altercation between them.
The Uruguay international added that he was taken to hospital to undergo assessment upon sustaining a head injury during the incident after falling during the physical confrontation and hitting his head on a table.
”Yesterday I had an incident with a team-mate as a result of a play during training, where the fatigue from competition and frustration make everything bigger than it is,” Valverde said. ”In a normal locker room, these things can happen and are resolved among ourselves without becoming public.
“Obviously, here there is someone behind all this who rushed to tell the story, added to a season without titles where Madrid is always the center of attention and everything gets magnified.
”Today we had another disagreement. During the argument, I accidentally hit a table, causing myself a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital.
”At no point has my team-mate hit me, nor have I hit him, although I understand that for you, it may have been easier to believe that we beat each other up or that it was intentional, but that did not happen.
”I feel that my anger about the situation, my frustration at seeing that some of us are reaching the end of the season running on our last bit of energy, breaking ourselves mentally, led me to the point of arguing with a team-mate.”
Real’s season is threatening to end badly, with the club likely to go without a major trophy for a second successive season.
They are 11 points behind Barcelona in the Liga title race and were dumped out of the UEFA Champions League by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
Valverde’s statement continued: ”I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry because the situation hurts me, the moment we are going through hurts me. Madrid is one of the most important things in my life and I can’t stay indifferent.
”The result is an accumulation of things that end up in a meaningless argument, damaging my image and leaving room for people to invent, slander, and exaggerate an accident, which I have no doubt about. Any clashes we may have on the pitch stop existing once we step off it, and if I have to defend him inside a stadium, I’ll be the first to do so.
”I wasn’t going to speak until the end of the season. We were eliminated from the Champions League and I kept my anger and resentment to myself. We wasted another year and I didn’t feel like making posts on social media when the only face I had to show was on the pitch, and I feel that’s what I did.
”That’s why it pains and saddens me the most to go through this situation, which prevents me from playing the next match due to medical decisions, because I have always gone until the end, to the very last consequences, and it hurts me more than anyone not to be able to do so.
”I am at the club’s and my team-mates’ disposal to cooperate with any decision they consider necessary.”
On Wednesday, it was reported that Valverde and Tchouameni began arguing during training, and it continued into the dressing room afterwards.
And a strong tackle from Valverde on Tchouameni in Thursday’s training saw tempers flare once again, with the altercation becoming physical once they returned to the changing room.
It comes amid reportedly increasing tensions behind the scenes at Real.
Last month, Antonio Rudiger apologised for his involvement in an argument with a team-mate in the dressing room.
Kylian Mbappe reportedly had an angry confrontation with a member of Real’s staff before their 1-1 draw at Real Betis on April 24.
According to ESPN, there have been other arguments between head coach Alvaro Arbeloa and some of his players, including Dani Ceballos and Raul Asencio. There is also a “lack of rapport” between Arbeloa and club captain Dani Carvajal.
Arbeloa has taken charge of 24 games in all competitions, winning 15, losing seven and drawing two.
His first game in charge was a humbling loss to second-tier Albacete in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.
It has been a campaign of chaos for the Spanish giants after they parted ways with head coach Xabi Alonso a few months into his first season with the club.
According to reports, Jose Mourinho is among the favourites to take over as head coach at the start of next season, with Jurgen Klopp and Didier Deschamps other names linked to the position.
Valverde has been one of Real’s key players this season, playing in both midfield and at right-back when needed.
The 27-year-old has worn the captain’s armband for most games this campaign and has scored crucial goals, none more so than his hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 first leg.
