Following the initial fallout, Valverde released a detailed statement outlining how competitive fatigue triggered the dispute, while explicitly denying that any physical violence took place between the pair: “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.
“Today, we had another run-in. During the argument, I accidentally struck a table, sustaining a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital. My teammate [Tchouameni] didn’t hit me, nor did I hit him. Although I understand that for you it might be easier to believe that we beat the hell out of each other or that he intentionally injured me, that is not what happened.”
