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Barcelona Troll Real Madrid Over Valverde, Tchouameni Fight Ahead of El Clasico

Madrid go into Sunday’s match at their lowest ebb.
Andrew Headspeath|
Dani Olmo was the center of Barcelona’s pointed post on Friday.
Dani Olmo was the center of Barcelona’s pointed post on Friday. | Manuel Queimadelos/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Barcelona took full advantage of an opportunity to troll their great rivals Real Madrid over the sensational reports of a training ground fight between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde.

The story of Tchouaméni and Valverde’s bust-up set social media alight on Thursday, with Real Madrid forced to release a statement confirming the incident, while announcing that the Uruguayan had been sent to hospital for treatment on a head injury.

Valverde released his own statement apologizing for the confrontation, but denied punches were thrown. Instead, he insisted he received a “small cut” after hitting his head on a table.

Madrid opened internal disciplinary proceedings on both players and handed them each a fine of €500,000 ($588,500).

The fight was seemingly the culmination of months of bad blood in the locker room, with the camp split between those who supported ousted former manager Xabi Alonso and those who wanted him out.

Elsewhere, Álvaro Carreras confirmed reports earlier this week that he had been involved in a separate training ground confrontation, where it is said that Antonio Rüdiger slapped the left back.

Barcelona Fire Shots at Divided Madrid

The civil war within the squad provides a nightmare backdrop to this Sunday’s Clásico—a game many Madridistas will be approaching with great dread.

Barcelona need only a point on home turf at the Camp Nou in order to clinch the La Liga title and condemn their great rivals to a second successive season without a major trophy.

Adding insult to injury, never before has the title been officially confirmed in a Clásico fixture. Hansi Flick’s team is also just two wins away from becoming the first team in La Liga since 1985–86 to finish the season with a perfect record at home.

With Real Madrid in disarray, Barcelona sent a pointed message of unity on Thursday, posting an image of midfielder Dani Olmo running the gauntlet to receive birthday ‘beatings’ from his teammates, alongside the caption “celebrating in family.”

In the context of the fight, Barça’s post reads as a deliberate roast of their rivals’ situation.

Madrid Absences Pile Up Ahead of Sunday

Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé is a major doubt for Sunday. | Jose Luis Contreras/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Valverde will not be available for Sunday’s potentially title-confirming showdown, adding to a sizable list of absentees for Álvaro Arbeloa to deal with.

Kylian Mbappé is a major doubt as he continues to recover from the hamstring injury that kept him out of Madrid’s 2–0 win over Espanyol. Club captain Dani Carvajal will miss the game as he suffers with a toe injury.

Ferland Mendy, meanwhile, is set for surgery after tearing a tendon in his thigh and could be out for several months.

Éder Militão, Arda Güler both have knocks that will keep them out beyond the rest of the season, while Rodrygo remains a long-term absentee.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, however, is expected to return in goal after a layoff of almost two months.

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Andrew Headspeath
ANDREW HEADSPEATH

Andy Headspeath is a Real Madrid correspondent for Sports Illustrated FC. Originally from the UK, the weather, culture and soccer lured him to Spain over a decade ago where he lives with his wife, son and two untrainable dogs. A player of unspeakably limited talents and only one fully functional knee, he has more than a decade's experience in a wide variety of editorial roles within sports media, from match reporting to in-depth feature writing and interviews. He specializes in soccer history and culture, as well as—of course—La Liga.

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