Tchouameni denies punching Valverde in first comments on Real Madrid training-ground incident

Aurélien Tchouameni has publicly addressed his training-ground altercation with Fede Valverde for the first time, flatly denying that he punched the Uruguayan midfielder. Valverde required hospital treatment and stitches to his head following the incident at Real Madrid’s Valdebebas facility, and both players were fined €500,000 by the club for their conduct.

“Things happened, you could see and hear it in the media. It was blown out of proportion because it was in the news, and when you play for Real Madrid, that creates a huge reaction,” Tchouameni told Diario AS. “A lot of nonsense was said in the press. I read that there was a fight and that I had punched him… which wasn’t the case. I won’t go into more detail.”

Tchouameni was keen to draw a line under the episode, emphasising that the relationship between the two midfielders remains intact. “The most important thing is that the club was aware of what happened,” he said. “There are many things that happen in the dressing room that don’t make it into the press. Life goes on. Fede and I have a common goal: to win titles with Real Madrid. There are no problems.”

He also addressed the prospect of facing Valverde at the World Cup, where France and Uruguay could meet. “If I face him in the World Cup, we’ll be eager to win with the French national team. On a personal level, there are no problems with Valverde right now.”

Valverde had already spoken briefly about the incident on joining the Uruguay squad ahead of the tournament, declining to elaborate but describing it as a learning experience that would help him “grow and mature.”

Real Madrid’s hierarchy appeared less troubled by the altercation itself than by the fact it became public. Then-manager Álvaro Arbeloa said that “what really hurts” was the leak to the media, while president Florentino Pérez warned that the person responsible for going public would lose their job, adding that “players fight every year” and calling the leak “worse than the fight itself.”