Aurelien Tchouameni spoke about an incident involving Real Madrid teammate Federico Valverde from last season and said there was no fight between them. Speaking on The Bridge (via AS), the France international said the pair do not have any problems, with Real Madrid set to face Barcelona on Sunday.
Tchouameni denies a fight
Tchouameni said: "I want to clear things up. There was no fight between us. Yes, it's true that things happen in the changing room, but we never had a fight."
He also said: "In a changing room there are little scuffles and things like that, but I never came to blows with Valverde. It's true that there was something unpleasant happened."
He says he had to reassure people
Tchouameni said: "The only problem with all this is that when you’re at Real Madrid, anything - however small - gets blown out of all proportion and becomes media circus. Something that wasn't necessarily a problem ends up becoming one."
He added: "Afterwards, everyone calls me to find out what was going on and if I was all right… It’s such a minor thing. People messaged me about it."
He said: "They want to know what happened, but these days you have to be very discreet. To reassure people, I had to tell them that nothing was wrong. I once saw an NFL documentary and these things happen there all the time."
He says there is no problem now
He concluded: "If you walk into the dressing room today, as the coach said , you'll see that Fede and I are fine; there's no problem between us."
Tchouameni said: "On the pitch, there's no problem either – life goes on. And in fact, even these things bring you closer to the other person. We're fine; we don't have any problems."
GOAL's reported details
GOAL reported that in May, an internal altercation resulted in Valverde requiring hospital treatment for a head injury.
GOAL reported that disciplinary proceedings ended with €500,000 fines for both players.
GOAL reported that Real Madrid are third in the table, six points behind the league leaders and reigning champions.