In his pre match press conference ahead of El Clasico on Sunday evening, Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa has spoken about this week's events
Unless you live on a different planet, you will be well up to date with this weeks shenanigans in Real Madrid training.
But, just in case you do, Real Madrid midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde physically fought on Thursday afternoon, leaving the latter with his head cut open and a trip to the hospital.
As a result, both players were fined 500,000 Euros each, the largest fines ever imposed to Real Madrid players.
Inevitably, head coach Alvaro Arbeloa was asked about this in his press conference ahead of El Clasico on Sunday evening, to which he responded: "I have two things to say. First, I'm very proud of the club's decisiveness, speed, and transparency. And second, that the players have acknowledged their mistake, expressed their regret, and apologized. That's enough for me.
What I'm not going to do is publicly crucify them, because they don't deserve it. They've shown me what it means to be a Real Madrid player these past four months and years. They've demonstrated what it means to be a Real Madrid player, and I won't forget that. I always give an example. For me, there's a player who is the epitome of what a Real Madrid player should be, and that's Juanito. And Juanito never made a mistake.
And I think we're all very proud of what he did in every match. He understood what Real Madrid is all about, he gave his all. How could I not make mistakes? But if there's one thing we love him for, it's because he made mistakes, just like anyone can. Valverde and Tchouameni deserve for us to move on, to give them a chance to keep fighting for this club. I'm very proud of them.
For me, the most serious issue is that what happens in the locker room should stay in the locker room. The incident was just bad luck. And it needs to be put to rest."
Then, Arbeloa was asked about not being able to stop Tchouameni and Valverde from fighting, to which he said: "I don't have my office inside the Real Madrid dressing room. I wish I could be responsible for everything that happens and control it all. If the consequence of this situation is that the coach should have stopped all this... I accept it.
It's not a pleasant situation, it should serve as an example for everyone, and that's all there is to it. Let's move on, learn from it, and not forget that tomorrow there's a Barcelona-Real Madrid match."
Well, it is one thing to defend your players publicly, and you understand what he means by what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. But, it is another thing to say you are "proud of them" after the awful public image they have given the club this week.
And as for staying in the locker room, well, ultimately this hasn't stayed there. Quite the opposite in so many ways.
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