MADRID (AP) 鈥� Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde suffered a head injury, the club said, in an altercation with teammate Aur茅lien Tchouam茅ni on Thursday ahead of a weekend match .
It was the latest disruption to a Madrid squad that has endured a tough season that included lackluster results, a coaching change and fan such as Vin铆cius J煤nior, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbapp茅.
Madrid could see Barcelona celebrate the league title in Sunday’s clasico at the Camp Nou. The Catalan club needs only a draw to win its second league title in a row.
Madrid said Thursday that 鈥渇ollowing the incidents that occurred this morning during the first team鈥檚 training session, it has decided to open disciplinary proceedings against our players Federico Valverde and Aur茅lien Tchouam茅ni.鈥�
Valverde downplayed the incident, saying on Instagram that no punches were thrown. He said he hurt his head after accidentally hitting a table during the encounter. Valverde said he sustained a small cut that required a short visit to the hospital.
The 27-year-old Valverde’s injury could keep him sidelined for the final four games of the domestic season.
鈥淎fter the tests carried out today on our player Fede Valverde by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a cranioencephalic trauma,鈥� the club said on Thursday.
鈥淰alverde is at home in good condition and will need to rest for 10 to 14 days, as indicated by medical protocols for this diagnosis.鈥�
Valverde is a key midfielder for Uruguay, which will play in . Uruguay’s first game is against Saudi Arabia on June 15.
Valverde apologized for the 鈥渕eaningless fight鈥� with a teammate 鈥� he didn’t name Tchouam茅ni specifically 鈥� and said 鈥渆verything has been blown out of proportion鈥� following a frustrating and lengthy season.
鈥淎fter a season without titles for Madrid, everything is magnified,鈥� Valverde wrote on Instagram. 鈥淚 feel that my anger and frustration at seeing some of us struggling to get through the end of the season, giving it our all, pushed me to the point of arguing with a teammate.
鈥淚鈥檓 sorry,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 truly sorry because this situation hurts me, and this moment we are going through hurts me.鈥�
The team gave no timeline on the disciplinary proceedings.
鈥淭he club will provide updates on the resolutions of both proceedings once the corresponding internal procedures have been completed,鈥� it said.
There was no reported injury with Tchouam茅ni, a 26-year-old France international who has not commented publicly.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Defender 脕lvaro Carreras confirmed on Instagram that he was involved in 鈥渁n incident with a colleague.鈥� He called it a 鈥渕inor鈥� and 鈥渋solated鈥� matter that 鈥渉as already been resolved.鈥�
Spanish media said he and defender Antonio R眉diger got into a scuffle during one of the team’s training sessions.
Madrid is about to finish the season without winning any major title. It was eliminated by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, was ousted by second-division club Albacete in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, and was runner-up to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
The team replaced Xabi Alonso in January in a rare after he and some of the team’s top players did not get along.
Vin铆cius and other players, including Bellingham, were criticized by fans as the team struggled earlier in the season. They were both loudly jeered by the home crowd during some games at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
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AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed from London.
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