Aurelien Tchouameni has spoken about his clash with Federico Valverde last season that caused ructions at Real Madrid, and insisted there was no fight but there was “something ugly”.

The France international and the Uruguayan clashed in a training ground incident in May that characterised a Madrid squad in turmoil under then boss Alvaro Arbeloa.

Valverde received hospital treatment for a cranioencephalic trauma, a form of concussion, and both men were fined €500,000.

Valverde insisted in a social media post that no punches had been thrown and Tchouameni backed up that version of events in an interview last night.

He told The Bridge: “People talk a lot, but there was no fight between Valverde and me. Yes, it’s true that things happen in the dressing room, but we never fought. In a dressing room there are arguments and things like that, but I never hit Valverde. It’s true, though, that there was something ugly.

“The only problem with all this is that it is Real Madrid and anything, no matter how small it is, gets very big and becomes a crazy media story. Something that wasn’t necessarily a problem, ends up being one.”

Valverde and I are closer now, says Real Madrid star Tchouameni

The incident caused a huge storm, especially as Madrid toiled on the field.

Tchouameni added: “Everyone called me to see what was going on and if I was okay. They want to know what happened, but nowadays you have to be very discreet. To calm people down I had to tell them that nothing was happening. I once saw an NFL documentary and there these things happen all the time.”

Both men insisted at the time that the row had been patched up and Tchouameni even claims it has brought them closer together.

“If you enter the dressing room today, as [coach Jose] Mourinho said, you will be able to see that Valverde and I are fine, there is no problem between the two of us,” he said. “On the field there is no problem either, life goes on. And in fact, these things bring you closer to the other person. We’re fine, we don’t have any problems.”

Madrid sit third in La Liga heading into Sunday’s El Clasico with leaders Barcelona at Camp Nou.