Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa has made an emotional defence of Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni after their training ground bust-up, hitting out at "lies" about his squad's professionalism and calling dressing room leaks "a betrayal."
The club confirmed on Friday that Valverde and Tchouameni had each been fined €500,000 after the pair clashed at Valdebebas -- resulting in Valverde suffering a head injury which required hospital treatment -- in the latest in a series of behind-the-scenes incidents.
Tchouameni has since returned to training and Arbeloa confirmed that the midfielder would be available to face Barcelona in Sunday's Clásico, where leaders Barça could clinch the league title.
"The two players have expressed regret, they've admitted their mistakes, they've accepted the consequences, and they've apologised," Arbeloa said in a news conference on Saturday. "That's enough for me. I won't burn my players at the stake. They don't deserve it, neither of them."
Tchouameni and Valverde first clashed in training on Wednesday, followed by a repeat on Thursday, where sources told ESPN that the pair were involved in a number over-the-top challenges before a dressing room confrontation.
Both players have denied reports that Tchouameni punched Valverde, claiming that the latter fell and hit his head, after which he was taken to hospital and given stitches.
"Valverde and Tchouameni are two players who represent well what Real Madrid is," Arbeloa insisted on Saturday. "They deserve an opportunity to keep fighting for this club. I'm very proud of them. I won't allow all this to be taken advantage of to doubt my players' professionalism."
Arbeloa appeared visibly emotional as he rejected what he called "lies" about his management of the squad in recent weeks.
ESPN has reported that Arbeloa has had disagreements with a number of players, including Dani Carvajal, Dani Ceballos and Raúl Asencio, as well as an incident involving Kylian Mbappé and another member of the coaching staff.
"A lot of lies are being said," Arbeloa said. "It's a lie that my players aren't professional. It's a complete lie that my players have shown me a lack of respect, not once. It's a lie that players don't play because they have a problem with me, or that their lives don't live up to what a Real Madrid player's should be. That's totally false."
ESPN has also reported that Antonio Rüdiger and Álvaro Carreras were involved in a heated argument, with Carreras posting on Instagram that it had been a one-off incident, since resolved.
"The most serious thing for me, what hurts me most, is that what happens in the Real Madrid dressing room should stay there," Arbeloa said, while refusing to speculate about where the leaks were coming from. "If things that happen in the dressing room are leaked, I think it's a betrayal of Real Madrid and what this badge represents.
"I don't work for the CIA or anything like that. I'm not accusing the players, or anybody. There are a lot of people around the Real Madrid first team, I'm not here to point the finger at anyone. I try to set an example, and what happens in private conversations between me and my players will always stay there."
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Arbeloa also played down the seriousness of the clash between Valverde and Tchouameni, referring to an incident while Arbeloa was a Liverpool player, when Craig Bellamy admitted striking teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club.
"I had a teammate who picked up a golf club and hit another player," Arbeloa said on Saturday. "They're situations that shouldn't happen between teammates, but they've always happened. I'm not justifying it, but I've experienced even worse situations than this... We had the really bad luck that it ended with Fede getting a cut, but that's more to do with bad luck than with what really happened. I think it's an issue we have to move on from."
Arbeloa said Tchouameni would be in the Madrid squad to play Barcelona on Sunday, and wouldn't speculate about Valverde losing his role as one of the club's captains.
"I'm very happy with the work of my four captains," the coach said.