Even for a club as familiar with high drama as Real Madrid, this has been an explosive past few days. A window has been blown open on just how dysfunctional and toxic the atmosphere has become.
This week, we learned Antonio Rudiger was involved in an altercation with fellow defender Alvaro Carreras at Madrid’s training ground — and that, later in April, striker Kylian Mbappe insulted a coaching-staff member during a practice game.
Then, on Wednesday morning, news broke of a clash in training between midfielders Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni.
On Thursday, even more outrageously, the same two players were involved in a more serious incident — a dressing-room fight that ended with a bleeding Valverde being knocked unconscious and taken to hospital.
This article, informed by conversations with several well-placed sources — who each asked to speak anonymously to protect relationships — tells the story of exactly what happened, and explains why it is expected to lead to serious consequences.
Madrid’s awful 2025-26 season is heading towards a very undignified end, with lots of uncertainty, acrimony and literal infighting. Sources present at the training ground yesterday said it was “very sad, everything that is happening”, adding: “The club has a huge problem.”
On Sunday, Alvaro Arbeloa’s side visit arch-rivals Barcelona for El Clasico. They have to win or Barca will retain their La Liga title — confirming a second successive campaign without a major trophy for Madrid in the process.
Judging by this week, though, that is the least of their worries.
Let’s start with the details around Valverde and Tchouameni, who have been Madrid team-mates since the latter’s arrival at the club in June 2022.
In training on Wednesday morning, the two players were involved in a dispute after Tchouameni took exception to what he felt was an overly strong tackle from Valverde. The dispute continued into the dressing room after the session, and other squad members had to step in to de-escalate.
With that, club sources insisted that the pair had made their peace. What happened next showed that was not the case.
On Thursday, Valverde came in for training and shook hands with everybody apart from Tchouameni, sources said. Then in the day’s session, the Uruguayan hit the Frenchman with a series of strong challenges, to which Tchouameni did not react.
Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, team-mates since 2022, pictured in training in December (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)
The next portion of the training session involved the players being divided into two sides. Coaching staff decided to put Valverde and Tchouameni in the same one, and sources said Valverde made a comment about this to his team-mate — suggesting to Tchouameni he was lucky to avoid having to face him.
After the session, back in the dressing room, Tchouameni asked Valverde to come over to where he was, and was then insulted by him. Tchouameni then struck the 27-year-old. The two began to tussle and Valverde banged his head on a table, losing consciousness.
He was also bleeding, and there was a great degree of concern about his condition in the room, including from Tchouameni. He regained consciousness and was taken to hospital, accompanied by a club doctor, and returned home after being checked over.
Back in the dressing room, executives including Madrid’s general director Jose Angel Sanchez appeared. He was angered by what he heard had happened and said the club would take action, emphasising it was not acceptable for players to be fighting.
On Thursday evening, Madrid released a statement saying “disciplinary proceedings” would be opened against Valverde and Tchouameni, but it was not exactly clear what form of punishment the club would pursue. Sources close to two senior players speculated it would be “impossible” for both Valverde and Tchouameni to stay at the club beyond this season.
Reflecting on what happened, several sources with intimate knowledge of the Madrid dressing room said Valverde was the one to blame, that he had provoked Tchouameni in a pattern of behaviour they were already familiar with. One source said the Uruguay international “has been like this all year”, adding that his attitude was “unworthy of a captain”. That view was supported by others with a longer history at the club.
Sources close to Valverde did not provide a reply to The Athletic’s request for comment on those claims.
Federico Valverde is one of Madrid’s captains, as one of the club’s longest-serving players (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
On Thursday evening, Valverde released a statement denying that he had been hit, nor that he had hit a team-mate. He said there had been “a disagreement”, during the course of which he “accidentally banged my head against a table, causing a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital”. Sources said he wrote the statement himself.
Valverde added: “I’m sorry that my anger at the situation, my frustration at seeing that some of us are reaching the end of the season with our last ounce of strength, giving it our all, got the better of me to the point of arguing with a team-mate.”
Madrid also released a statement confirming he had suffered a head injury and been diagnosed with a “cranioencephalic traumatism”.
“Valverde is at home in good condition and will have to rest for 10 to 14 days, as per medical protocols for this diagnosis,” the statement continued.
The timeline rules Valverde out of El Clasico. Madrid’s last three games of the season follow that, on May 14, May 17 and May 24 (although the date for this final fixture has not yet been confirmed).
As the dust settled on this violent episode, sources reflected on how, when Madrid do not have anything to play for, such problems can arise. Several of them have appeared at once this week.
In theory, La Liga is still to play for. Madrid beat Espanyol 2-0 on Sunday evening, with the victory ensuring that Barca would have to wait at least a week longer to be crowned champions, and avoiding any chance of Arbeloa’s team having to perform a guard of honour for their biggest rivals at the Camp Nou this Sunday.
Vinicius Junior’s two excellent goals in that game were immediately overshadowed by a media storm around Mbappe taking a controversially-timed break in Sardinia with his actress partner Ester Exposito while the French attacker was supposed to be working hard to recover from a hamstring injury in time for El Clasico.
Mbappe’s private plane landing at an airport in Madrid shortly before kick-off in his team’s away match at Espanyol, who are based in Barcelona, was not well received by fans or pundits.
This came as word was filtering out about Mbappe being involved in a flare-up with a member of Arbeloa’s staff during a recent training exercise. Sources said the superstar forward spoke angrily and insultingly towards a coach who had called him offside while acting as an assistant referee during a practice game. This occurred in the days leading up to the 1-1 draw at Real Betis on April 24 (during which Mbappe’s most recent injury occurred).
On Tuesday morning, Mbappe’s representatives replied to The Athletic’s request for comment on his training-ground dispute and the atmosphere at Madrid with the following statement: “A portion of the criticism is based on an over-interpretation of elements related to a recovery period strictly supervised by the club, and does not reflect the reality of Kylian’s commitment and daily work for the team.”
That evening, Madrid left-back Carreras admitted in an Instagram post to an incident that had taken place with a team-mate. This was a reference to a heated argument with Rudiger at the training ground, something the latter has since apologised for.
On Wednesday night, following the first incident between Tchouameni and Valverde in training, Barcelona’s social media team showed they were paying attention in the build-up to Sunday’s big game.
One big family 🫶 pic.twitter.com/PeByf2MfKd
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 6, 2026
Severe tension has been brewing for some time.
Since Madrid’s most recent Champions League final victory in 2024, the atmosphere within the dressing room has significantly deteriorated. On the pitch, the team’s performances have become more disjointed.
During 2024-25, Carlo Ancelotti’s final season as manager, sources within the coaching staff and close to senior squad members warned that the group had become very difficult to manage, with personality clashes and squabbling egos clear, as the team fell apart in the biggest games.
Xabi Alonso was appointed as head coach early last summer with a brief to bring more organisation and order. Yet the first half of this season saw a significant number of senior players rebel against his methods — most obviously when Vinicius Jr openly defied Alonso during October’s Clasico at the Bernabeu. Valverde was also unhappy under the Spaniard.
The club hierarchy’s response was to blame Alonso for being unable to control the dressing room, rather than discipline any players for not doing as they were told. There are also concerns about the power and access of the entourages around the team’s big stars.
The situation has arguably worsened since Arbeloa’s promotion from reserve-team manager following the sacking of Alonso in January. A sizeable group of players are unhappy with how they have been treated by the 43-year-old. There have also been clear on-pitch signs of discord between team-mates, such as the angry exchange between Vinicius Jr and midfielder Jude Bellingham late in Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final second leg defeat by Bayern Munich last month.
Alvaro Arbeloa on the sidelines during Sunday’s 2-0 win at Espanyol (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)
With little left to play for, much of the frustration has boiled over. The whole situation suggests a dressing room which is out of control, reflecting a total lack of authority from Arbeloa — and also a complete absence of leadership from the very top of the club. A Madrid spokesperson described that characterisation as “totally false” when approached for comment by The Athletic.
Sources say the departures of senior players such as Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Nacho Fernandez and Lucas Vazquez over recent years have removed positive examples, experienced leaders and strong characters from the dressing room. Older players in the squad including Dani Carvajal and David Alaba have had peripheral roles all season, and are likely just weeks away from leaving themselves.
Arbeloa remains in charge, for now.
Given other club figures rarely come forward to talk publicly about difficult situations, a complaint often heard from players’ entourages, the rookie coach will have to try to explain the picture at Saturday’s pre-Clasico news conference. He will do so under a general expectation that he will not be around next season. The Athletic has reported that former Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is club president Florentino Perez’s favoured candidate to replace Arbeloa.
Even a positive result at the Camp Nou on Sunday is unlikely to calm things for long.
There will be a heated atmosphere for next Thursday’s La Liga game at home against struggling Real Oviedo, when the Bernabeu fans will get another chance to vent their frustrations, as they have done on several occasions already this term — with Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Bellingham and Perez all targeted.
It all points to big changes this summer.
High-profile exits may be required to remove personal tensions between team-mates, and would also help raise money to strengthen the squad and make it more balanced and competitive.
All the chaos will also feed an idea that a strong leader is required in the dugout to impose order. It may not be coincidental that information about so many incidents which are usually hushed up has come out just as Perez is seemingly advancing an option to re-appoint Mourinho for a second spell as coach.
Additional reporting: David Ornstein
