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Ălvaro Arbeloa defended Fede Valverde and AurĂ©lien TchouamĂ©ni after a dressing-room fight led to Valverde being hospitalized. The players were fined âŹ500,000 each, and Arbeloa emphasized their commitment to Real Madrid ahead of the upcoming *clĂĄsico* against Barcelona.
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Ălvaro Arbeloa insisted Fede Valverde and AurĂ©lien TchouamĂ©ni should be given the chance to âkeep fighting for the badgeâ after a second dressing-room bust-up in two days left the Uruguayan on the floor and needing to be taken to hospital for stitches in his head.
The morning after Real Madrid fined the players a record âŹ500,000 each for the incident and the morning before they face Barcelona in the clĂĄsico, the coach gave an extraordinary press conference in which he claimed the dressing room was âhealthyâ, said that he was âproudâ of his footballers and insisted that he would not allow them to be âburnt at the stakeâ for what they had done, saying that everyone makes mistakes, even club legend Juanito who famously stamped on Lothar Matthausâs head. He also said he had also seen worse, recalling the night in 2007 that Craig Bellamy attacked Liverpool teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club.
While Valverde has been told to stay at home because of the âcraniofacial traumaâ suffered in the fight, the coach confirmed that TchouamĂ©ni will be in the squad to face Barcelona. If Madrid do not win the clĂĄsico, their greatest rivals will be crowned champions.
Arbeloa hit out at what he called the âliesâ told about his players but he also described dressing-room leaks as a âbetrayalâ, concluding: âI am responsible for what happens at Real Madrid and if you want to have someone to blame, here I am.â
âI have two things to say,â Arbeloa began. âI am very proud of the decisiveness, transparency and speed with which the club has acted. And, two, that the players have expressed their regret, they have admitted their error, and they have accepted the consequences of their actions. They have said sorry to the fans, the club and the dressing room, and thatâs enough for me. They do not deserved to be publicly burnt at the stake. Fede Valverde nor AurĂ©lien TchouamĂ©ni have shown every day what it means to be a Real Madrid player, with their commitment and effort, and I am not going to forget that.â
âIf there is a player that represents Real Madrid, that is a paradigm of what Madrid is, itâs Juanito. And did Juanito never make mistakes?â Arbeloa went on. âAnyone can make mistakes but Fede Valverde and AurĂ©lien TchouamĂ©ni are two players who represent very well what Real Madrid is, who deserve a chance to turn the page, to keep fighting for this badge.â

Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni were involved in a dressing-room bust-up, resulting in Valverde needing hospital treatment for head injuries.
Both players were fined a record âŹ500,000 each for their involvement in the dressing-room altercation.
No, Fede Valverde has been told to stay at home due to the craniofacial trauma he suffered from the fight.
Ălvaro Arbeloa expressed pride in Valverde and TchouamĂ©ni, stating they have shown commitment to Real Madrid and should not be publicly shamed for their mistake.
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Ălvaro Arbeloa said Valverde and TchouamĂ©ni should not be âburnt at the stakeâ for their training ground altercation. Photograph: Europa Press Sports/Europa Press/Getty Images
âI will not allow people to use this to question my playersâ professionalism, because there are a lot of lies being told â a lot of lies. It is false that my players are not professional. Itâs false that they have shown a lack of respect towards me; not even once. It is false that their lifestyle is not what the lifestyle of a Real Madrid player should be. I am not going to allow that [to be said] because it is not just untrue â itâs an absolute lie. Our fans can rest assured when it comes to the dressing room.â
âIt is not easy to assimilate two years without winning a title and everything that has happened,â the coach continued. âIt is not an easy situation for all of us. [But] I see a healthy dressing room. Nothing in these four months makes me say I am unhappy with this dressing room.â
Well, not nothing, exactly. The first rule of fight club is you donât talk about fight club. âLook, I had a teammate who got a golf club and whacked another teammate,â Arbeloa said. âFor me, the most serious thing and what hurts most is that what happens in the Madrid dressing room should stay in the Madrid dressing room. Situations that should not happen between teammates have always happened everywhere. For things that happen in the dressing room to be filtered out is a betrayal of Real Madrid and it is something that saddens me a lot.â
Asked if he had detected the leaks, Arbeloa replied: âNo. I donât work in the CIA or anything like it. I am not accusing the players, or anyone, because I canât. There are lots of people around the Real Madrid first team and I am not here to point an accusing finger at anyone.â
âIt is not a pleasant situation and the players know they made mistakes but that has to be an example to everyone that we turn the page, learn and do not forget that tomorrow thereâs a Barcelona-Real Madrid. At times, frustration and anger can bring about situations we donât want but we can use that energy to play a great game tomorrow.â