Will Aurélien Tchouaméni play for Real Madrid in El Clásico vs Barcelona?

It is no exaggeration to say Real Madrid head into Sunday’s Clásico against Barcelona in a state of crisis. Not only will their recent results on the field give Barça the chance to clinch the LaLiga title against their bitter rivals, but the Madrid locker room has descended into chaos following a training-ground fight between Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Valverde ruled out of El Clásico after hospital visit

Valverde was taken to hospital, diagnosed with “cranioencephalic trauma” and given stitches to a head wound after the incident. The Uruguayan denied that either player had thrown a punch in an Instagram post, saying he “accidentally hit a table” during an argument.

Either way, Valverde has been ruled out of action for the next 10 to 14 days, which means he definitely won’t be lining up at Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday.

Tchouaméni available for selection despite punishment

Tchouaméni’s participation, however, appears to be rather more up in the air.

Hours after the incident came to light, Real Madrid confirmed they had opened disciplinary proceedings against both players but did not initially go into details. On Friday, however, the club revealed it had issued each player a fine of €500,000 (just under $590,000), “thereby concluding the corresponding internal procedures.”

Neither player will therefore be suspended from playing. With that in mind, head coach Álvaro Arbeloa is able to call upon Tchouaméni in Barcelona if he wishes to do so.

Whether that will be the case, however, remains to be seen. Given how things have been going recently for Real Madrid, who have dropped points in three of their last five LaLiga games, and the magnitude of the occasion, Arbeloa may well feel omitting the Frenchman, who will be heavily scrutinised, is the more sensible option.

Arbeloa set for pre-Clásico clarity

We are likely to find out more when the Real Madrid coach holds his pregame news conference on Saturday at around 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET).

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