Real Madrid's Valverde to miss Clásico with head injury after altercation with Tchouaméni - ESPN

Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde will miss Sunday's El Clásico against Barcelona with a head injury following an altercation with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni.

«After the tests carried out today on our player Fede Valverde by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a cranioencephalic trauma,» the LaLiga club said in a statement.

«Valverde is at home in good condition and will need to rest for 10 to 14 days, as indicated by medical protocols for this diagnosis.»

There was no reported injury with Tchouaméni, a 26-year-old France international.

The fight broke out during training Thursday and comes just a day after the two midfielders had already been involved in an incident during Wednesday's training session.

Valverde had to be taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a cut on his forehead, the 27-year-old Uruguay captain confirmed in a statement.

Madrid have also announced that they have opened disciplinary proceedings against both players.

«The club will announce the resolutions of both cases in due course, once the corresponding internal procedures have been completed,» the LaLiga club said.

A source has told ESPN's Rodra that the fight broke out at the end of training following a practice match with some heavy challenges. Tchouaméni went to the changing room, and Valverde then entered, looking very tense. That's where they got into a fight, the source said.

«Yesterday, I had an incident with a teammate stemming from a play during training, a situation where the fatigue of competition and sheer frustration caused everything to get blown out of proportion,» Valverde said in a statement on Instagram.

«Today, we had another run-in. During the argument, I accidentally struck a table,