Real Madrid’s Valverde ‘waits for opponent in car park and punches him in face after alleged sick joke about his child’
FEDERICO VALVERDE allegedly punched Villarreal’s Alex Baena in the face after Real Madrid’s loss at the Bernabeu.
The Los Blancos midfielder was reportedly enraged by an alleged comment by Baena, 21, about his wife’s pregnancy scare during a Copa del Rey match between the clubs from January.
But Baena has taken to Twitter to deny the allegations.
The feud between the pair is said to have spilled into this weekend’s league meeting with the two clashing during the game.
Valverde is then reported to have confronted Baena in the car park outside the Bernabeu where the team buses were, according to The Athletic.
The 24-year-old allegedly punched Baena during the incident, with sources in Spain claiming that Villarreal have video footage of the alleged incident.
Marca claim Valverde punched Baena in the face.
In a tweet retweeted by Villarreal’s official Twitter account, Baena said: “Very happy with the team’s impressive victory in a venue like the Santiago Bernabéu, but at the same time very sad for the aggression I suffered after the game and surprised by what is being said about me.
“IT IS COMPLETELY FALSE THAT I SAID THAT.”
The Athletic also have a screenshot of a now-deleted tweet from Villarreal club official Xisco Nadal where he branded Valverde “a coward”.
Valverde’s wife, Mina Bonino, is reported to have had pregnancy complications with the couple’s second child earlier this year.
But thankfully the unborn baby is healthy and in March Bonino took a picture on Instagram where she told followers she believed she was “six months into it”.
Real Madrid fell to defeat to Villarreal after conceding two goals in the final 20 minutes with Samuel Chukwueze scoring a stunning winning strike.
Vinicius Junior scored a fantastic solo goal of his own to give Real Madrid the lead early in the second-half but his work would ultimately be undone.
Madrid now trail Barcelona by 12 points with their table-topping rivals still having a game in hand in La Liga.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have more realistic chances of silverware in the Copa del Rey where they stunned Barca in midweek to grab a place in the final.
They also have the more immediate task of trying to get past Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in the Champions League.