Tchouameni available for Clasico: Arbeloa

Alvaro Arbeloa says Aurelien Tchouameni will be in Real Madrid’s squad for Sunday’s Clasico despite his training-ground clash with Fede Valverde. Valverde is set to miss up to two weeks after suffering a head injury.

BARCELONA: Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa has said Aurelien Tchouameni will be included in the squad for Sunday’s La Liga Clasico against Barcelona despite a confrontation with team-mate Fede Valverde at the end of training on Thursday.

Valverde, the Uruguay captain, was taken to hospital with a head injury after the incident and is expected to be out for up to two weeks while he recovers. Real Madrid said on Friday that both Tchouameni and Valverde had been fined, adding that the two midfielders had apologised to each other as well as to the club, supporters, staff and their team-mates.

The match carries major title implications. If Madrid do not beat Barcelona, the Catalan side will secure the Spanish championship for a second straight season.

Asked about the French midfielder’s status for the game at Camp Nou, Arbeloa told reporters, "Tomorrow Tchouameni will be in the squad."

Arbeloa, who took over from Xabi Alonso in January during what has been a difficult campaign for Madrid, said he had accepted the apologies offered by both players.

I'm very proud of the club's decisiveness, speed, and transparency, and that the players have acknowledged their mistake, expressed their regret, accepted the consequences of what they have done, and asked for forgiveness.

he said.

For me, that's enough. What I'm not going to do is burn them at the stake in public, because they don't deserve that... because of what they've shown me over these four months and over these years.

They've shown they understand what it means to be a Real Madrid player, their commitment, their effort, their love for the shirt, and I'm not going to forget that.

Leak of dressing-room details criticised

While condemning the altercation, Arbeloa said he was especially disturbed that details of what happened had emerged publicly.

That things are leaked that happened in the dressing room, to me is a betrayal of Real Madrid and the club badge.

the coach said.

Arbeloa recalled an incident from his time at Liverpool in 2007 involving Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise, saying dressing-room disputes were not unique to Madrid.

I had a team-mate who smacked another one with a golf club.

he said, referring to the episode that was followed days later by Bellamy’s golf swing celebration after scoring against Barcelona at Camp Nou in the Champions League.

For me, the thing that hurts me the most is that what happens in the Real Madrid dressing room should stay in the Real Madrid dressing room.

Situations that don't represent Real Madrid, or any club, situations that shouldn't happen between team-mates, have always happened, everywhere, but I'm not justifying it.

Arbeloa also said the pressure of playing for Madrid had been heightened by the prospect of the club going two seasons without a major trophy.