Juanito Gómez

‘Keep fighting for the badge’: Arbeloa makes passionate defence of Real Madrid fight duo

Álvaro Arbeloa insisted Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni should be given the chance to “keep fighting for the badge” 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 €500,000 each for the incident and the morning before they face Barcelona in the clásico, the coach gave an extraordinary press conference in which he claimed the dressing room was “healthy”, said that he was “proud” of his footballers and insisted that he would not allow them to be “burnt at the stake” for what they had done, saying that everyone makes mistakes, even the club legend Juanito who famously stamped on Lothar Matthaus’s head. He also said he had seen worse, recalling the night in 2007 that Craig Bellamy attacked his Liverpool teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club. While Valverde has been told to stay at home because of the “craniofacial trauma” suffered in the fight, the coach confirmed that Tchouaméni will be in the squad to face Barcelona. If Madrid do not win the clásico, their greatest rivals will be crowned champions. Arbeloa hit out at what he called the “lies” told about his players but he also described dressing-room leaks as a betrayal, concluding: “I am responsible for what happens at Real Madrid and if you want to have someone to blame, here I am.” “I have two things to say,” Arbeloa began. “I 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 that’s enough for me. They do not deserved to be publicly burnt at the stake. Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni 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.” “If there is a player that represents Real Madrid, that is a paradigm of what Madrid is, it’s Juanito. And did Juanito never make mistakes?” Arbeloa went on. “Anyone can make mistakes but Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni 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.” “I will not allow people to use this to question my players’ professionalism, because there are a lot of lies being told – a lot of lies. It is false that my players are not professional. It’s 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 – it’s an absolute lie. Our fans can rest assured when it comes to the dressing room.” “It is not easy to assimilate two years without winning a title and everything that has happened,” the coach continued. “It 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.” Well, not nothing, exactly. The first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club. “Look, I had a teammate who got a golf club and whacked another teammate,” Arbeloa said. “For 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.” Asked if he had detected the leaks, Arbeloa replied: “No. I don’t work in the CIA or anything like it. I am not accusing the players, or anyone, because I can’t. There are lots of people around the Real Madrid first team and I am not here to point an accusing finger at anyone.” “It 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 there’s a Barcelona-Real Madrid. At times, frustration and anger can bring about situations we don’t want but we can use that energy to play a great game tomorrow.”

2026-05-09

‘Keep fighting for the badge’: Arbeloa makes passionate defence of Real Madrid fight duo

Álvaro Arbeloa insisted Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni should be given the chance to “keep fighting for the badge” 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 €500,000 each for the incident and the morning before they face Barcelona in the clásico, the coach gave an extraordinary press conference in which he claimed the dressing room was “healthy”, said that he was “proud” of his footballers and insisted that he would not allow them to be “burnt at the stake” for what they had done, saying that everyone makes mistakes, even the club legend Juanito who famously stamped on Lothar Matthaus’s head. He also said he had seen worse, recalling the night in 2007 that Craig Bellamy attacked his Liverpool teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club. While Valverde has been told to stay at home because of the “craniofacial trauma” suffered in the fight, the coach confirmed that Tchouaméni will be in the squad to face Barcelona. If Madrid do not win the clásico, their greatest rivals will be crowned champions. Arbeloa hit out at what he called the “lies” told about his players but he also described dressing-room leaks as a betrayal, concluding: “I am responsible for what happens at Real Madrid and if you want to have someone to blame, here I am.” “I have two things to say,” Arbeloa began. “I 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 that’s enough for me. They do not deserved to be publicly burnt at the stake. Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni 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.” “If there is a player that represents Real Madrid, that is a paradigm of what Madrid is, it’s Juanito. And did Juanito never make mistakes?” Arbeloa went on. “Anyone can make mistakes but Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni 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.” “I will not allow people to use this to question my players’ professionalism, because there are a lot of lies being told – a lot of lies. It is false that my players are not professional. It’s 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 – it’s an absolute lie. Our fans can rest assured when it comes to the dressing room.” “It is not easy to assimilate two years without winning a title and everything that has happened,” the coach continued. “It 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.” Well, not nothing, exactly. The first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club. “Look, I had a teammate who got a golf club and whacked another teammate,” Arbeloa said. “For 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.” Asked if he had detected the leaks, Arbeloa replied: “No. I don’t work in the CIA or anything like it. I am not accusing the players, or anyone, because I can’t. There are lots of people around the Real Madrid first team and I am not here to point an accusing finger at anyone.” “It 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 there’s a Barcelona-Real Madrid. At times, frustration and anger can bring about situations we don’t want but we can use that energy to play a great game tomorrow.”

2026-05-09