Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa addresses Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni altercation ahead of El Clasico

Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa has addressed the incident that occurred between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni on Thursday.

The teammates had first clashed on Wednesday, and with the situation unresolved, they again had an altercation on Thursday, which led to Valverde suffering a head wound.

Valverde visited hospital and has since been ruled out for between 10 to 14 days with a 'traumatic head injury', but the club have decided against issuing a suspension to either player, so Tchouameni is available for Sunday night's La Liga clash with Barcelona.

“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 apologised. That’s enough for me," Arbeloa told reporters during his pre-match press conference.

“What I’m not going to do is publicly crucify them, because they don’t deserve it. Not after what they’ve shown me these past four months and years. They’ve shown they know what it means to be a Real Madrid player, and I won’t forget that.

Arbeloa will not "publicly crucify" Valverde, Tchouameni

"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. I won’t allow this to be used to question their professionalism.

“It’s a lie that they aren’t professional, that they’ve disrespected me… it’s absolutely false. Just as it’s a lie that some of them aren’t playing because of problems with me; they should go live their lives outside of Real Madrid.

“I’m the one ultimately responsible for the fact that the season probably… no, definitely, won’t be up to par. But I’ve been here four months and I’m very proud of my players.

“Of how they’ve welcomed me, of where we came from. And it’s clear that frustration and anger can lead you to situations you don’t want. But now, let’s focus on the game. That’s what we need to concentrate on now.

“I tell people they can rest assured with this dressing room, with these decisions. Being here without winning isn’t easy, I know; we’ve been through very difficult times, like so many years without winning a European Cup – 12 years passed between the ninth and the tenth. We’ve weathered some rough patches.

"But we must do it together: fans, club… no one is better prepared to turn this situation around than our president. He has managed to bring Real Madrid back to where it belongs. And with all that, we must fight to bring Real Madrid back to where it belongs.

Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Tchouameni will be available for El Clasico

“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. We have to turn the page, learn from it, and not forget that tomorrow there’s a Barcelona-Real Madrid match.

"Of course it’s a healthy dressing room. It’s not easy to go two seasons without a trophy, and as I always say, to be a Real Madrid player you have to be very ambitious.

“Of course, we have to do things better; change, reflect… but I see a healthy dressing room. One that’s ready to win again. I’m sure that next year, everyone will have much more experience…

“Because this is much younger than the one I was in seven years ago. I’m sure everyone will grow, and next year, knowing better what this badge means, nothing in these four months makes me say that I’m not happy and proud of this dressing room.”

Real Madrid need to win El Clasico to keep the La Liga title race alive, as they sit 11 points behind their bitter rivals with only four games of the season left to play.