Tchouameni denies fighting with Valverde

Reports that Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni had a physical fight during training at Real Madrid last May made headlines at the time. Months later, Tchouameni gave his first comment on the matter as a guest on the programme The Bridge and responded to the claims.

The French player stated clearly that there was no fight between him and Valverde. Tchouameni acknowledged that some incidents took place in the dressing room, which he described as veiled references and similar things. However, he stressed that none of these situations developed into a physical clash.

Tchouameni said the events were unpleasant but argued that the real source of the problem lies in the structure of Real Madrid. He said that because of the club's size, even the smallest incident gets blown out of proportion in the media and quickly becomes a serious issue.

The player also said that in his world the situation could be considered normal. He described how relatives and people around him called to ask whether he was all right, and said he had to tell them there was no problem to reassure them. He also mentioned that he had watched a documentary showing that similar incidents are common in American football.