What's happening at Real Madrid? The dressing room explodes and becomes a full-fledged "Circus Show"

Following their altercation, both Federico Valverde and Aurilien Tchouameni were fined heavily by the club. (Image credits – Heute; licence details). 

Real Madrid are in a huge crisis, and things have completely gone out of hand as the dressing room has erupted into a complete circus. As reported, Federico Valverde had to be admitted to a hospital with a head injury after a serious altercation with teammate Aurelien Tchouameni.

The Los Blancos are set to face rivals FC Barcelona in El Clasico this week, which is a must-win game for them. Defeat or a draw against their arch rivals will hand the Catalan giants their second La Liga title in a row. This is a huge psychological loss for Real Madrid ahead of the crucial game, and this has led to huge unrest amongst the fanbase amidst the reports of dressing room turmoil.

Earlier this week reports emerged from Spanish media outlet Marca that said midfielders Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni had a heated exchange in a training session after the Uruguayan had poked the French international for leaking information within the dressing room to the media. Later the verbal dispute escalated on Thursday into a physical altercation between the duo.

It was reported that a serious physical altercation took place which resulted in Valverde being admitted to hospital with a serious head injury. The Uruguayan has lost some memory due to the severity of the accident and has been ruled out of the upcoming El Clasico clash. However, Valverde later released a statement where he said that he had slipped and hit his head on a table and no teammate had struck him, which felt like a cover-up.

Defender Antonio Rudiger has also reportedly 'slapped' one of his teammates. (Image credits – Heute; licence details). 

There have also been reports of a serious altercation between defenders Antonio Rüdiger and Alvaro Carreras. The full-back didn't name any player but hit a teammate on Instagram, saying, “In recent days, certain insinuations and comments about me have emerged that do not correspond to reality. Regarding the incident with a colleague, it is a specific matter of no relevance that has already been settled. My relationship with the whole team is very good.” The sources confirm that the alleged ‘colleague’ is Rudiger. The German was also reported to have hit David Alaba.

The dressing room is completely divided, and the manager has fully lost control over his players. Apparently, six first team players do not talk with the manager any more and refuse to train under him. Dani Ceballos has already declared that he won't be playing for Real Madrid under the management of Arbeloa. An emergency meeting was later called involving club president Florentino Perez, head coach Alvaro Arbeloa and captain Dani Carvajal to resolve this issue.

Following the meeting, Real Madrid have released two statements, and an investigation has been opened against the two players. Both the players have been fined €500,000 each, which is the biggest fine imposed by the club on a player in the history of the club. The players have also reportedly apologised to each other and resolved the issue on Friday.

Kylian Mbappé's decision to take a vacation with his girlfriend while the team is in total turmoil has infuriated fans. (Image credits – Heute; licence details). 

There is another case that has the fanbase fuming with unrest. Amidst all the cases inside the dressing room, Kylian Mbappe has been sidelined with an injury. The French international has been enjoying a vacation with his rumoured girlfriend Ester Exposito. This has increased the pressure on the French superstar. He has scored 85 goals for the club in just 100 appearances, but now he's become a centre of controversy. 

As reported, this private trip with his girlfriend had been approved by the club, but the pictures surfaced when Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-0 in a close game. An online petition titled ‘Mbappe Out’ gained a lot of attention on social media and has crossed 50 million signatures in just two days. This shows the amount of frustration Real Madrid fans hold for their striker. His availability is still a doubt for Sunday's El Clasico.

Further reports have surfaced, and they hint towards the departure of Alvaro Arbeloa this summer. Poor results are not the only reason for his departure next season; his lack of control and dominance as a manager have also played a big factor. Sources revealed that many first-team players call Arbeloa 'the training cone', mocking him for being just present and doing nothing.

Alvaro Arbeloa has not been able to put out the fire that began when Xabi Alonso left the starting room. (Image credits – Heute; licence details). 

Arbeloa succeeded Xabi Alonso, who left after he felt a lack of respect from his dressing room, especially Kylian Mbappé. The French international also became viral as ‘Dictator’ in memes across social media. Arbeloa couldn't manage the turmoil which began when Alonso left, and now the small fire has spread into a complete wildfire. 

Real Madrid are destined to finish trophyless this season, and the club now expects him to stabilise the squad a bit and end the season on a high. However, this is far away from it, and now this is about clearing the club's image back where it belongs, as right now it's a complete circus. Manager uncertainty has quickly crept up on the club as the club has undergone three managers in two seasons without winning a single trophy, something which is very unusual at a club like Real Madrid.

Can Jose Mourinho change the dire situation at Real Madrid? (Image credits - Flickr.com)

Florentino Perez has a big call to make next season to stabilise the club once again. The next manager has to ensure results while also ensuring discipline and structural control over his players. This is something which both Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa have failed to implement in this star-studded squad. Managing all these ‘big egos’ is going to be an uphill task for the next manager.

As per reports, Jose Mourinho is in direct contact with the club to replace Alvaro Arbeloa as the manager next season. The Portuguese led the club before, from 2010 to 2013, winning the league by a record 100 points. Fabrizio Romano reports that if Perez says yes, Mourinho will immediately say yes to a return to Real Madrid. Discussions are underway between the two parties to secure the ‘Special One', who finished runners-up with Benfica in the Portuguese league but finished the season as invincibles.