Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa has defended players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, saying their apologies for having scuffled were enough to settle the incident that led the club to fine both of them a whopping €500,000.
“My players recognised their mistake, expressed their remorse and asked for forgiveness,” Arbeloa told reporters on Saturday in his first public appearance since the fight.
“That is enough for me,” he said. “What I am not going to do is burn them on a pyre in a town square, because they don’t deserve that. It is time to turn the page.”
The tussle by the two midfielders on Thursday ended with Valverde at the hospital to treat a head wound. Valverde said he had hit his head on a table, calling the incident “a meaningless fight.”
Madrid said both players apologised to one another the next day when they met with club officials investigating the incident. They also apologised to their teammates, coaching staff and fans.
In case you somehow missed it this week, Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde was taken to hospital to have stitches after a second confrontation with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni.
Lafua Michael says:
“As a United fan, I’d really love Arsenal to capitulate at West Ham tomorrow, as much as I’d love City to breeze through Brentford at the Etihad. Yeah, yeah – it might sound all jazz to the Gunners but you never can tell, after all the EPL is a plethora of twists and turns. On to other jazz, congrats to Bruno Fernandes on his latest accolade, even though most Gunners think Rice was worthy of the crown. The only Arsenal employee worthy of the crown is Nicolas Jover, the set piece coach.”
Use this post as a reminder to update your Fantasy Premier League team. For all the team news you’ll need, click below!
Karen Timms has messaged in to say:
“First time emailing but had to communicate, and ask. - how do you diehard fans survive any season with this degree of shenanigans?! I’m only 4 years in to Man City fandom, thanks to Altrincham born partner, and I have increased my alcohol intake considerably.
“Also, I’ve done university level maths and I’m still struggling with the permutations and combinations of any results. It’s just going to be a matter of sheer grit with a dash of pride isn’t it? Reckon Arsenal would have to all come down with food poisoning not to win the League though.
“Regardless we’ll be watching from South East Australia, early AM, beer and crisps on hand.
“Thanks for all the commentary and punter inputs. Many times I’m in for the football but stay for the comedy.”
Crystal Palace’s remaining Premier League fixtures
Crystal Palace v Everton 10/05
Manchester City v Crystal Palace 13/05
Brentford v Crystal Palace – 17/05
Crystal Palace v Arsenal – 24/05
Glasner vows to rotate Palace squad
Oliver Glasner says Crystal Palace will not be to blame if his decision to rotate his squad helps decide the Premier League title race. Palace can play kingmaker in the coming weeks as they face a trip to Manchester City next Wednesday and a visit from Arsenal on the final day.
With the Eagles all but safe from relegation, Glasner does not need to risk his key players ahead of their Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano on May 27.
He said: “If somebody criticises, for me it would be nonsense.
“So it’s just the last game but there were 37 games played before, so that means if another team on matchday 25 rotated against City or Arsenal they affected the title race as well.
“I’m not responsible for Arsenal and not responsible for Manchester City. I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I get paid for doing the best things for Crystal Palace.
“I don’t know what we are doing. Maybe we play the same line-up that we play against Vallecano.
“But a league title maybe just feels like it’s decided on the last day but at the end it’s the result of 38 matchdays and everybody gets what they deserve.”
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Speaking of Manchester City, they take on Brentford this evening, and Brentford full-back Michael Kayode spoke to Ben Fisher ahead of the match…
Kelvin Nel has messaged in to say:
“City have always been outsiders this year. If we win the FA Cup this will be a good season for a transition one. Arsenal have the easier run in and are ahead so will win the league.
“But looking back it would have been more of a contest had we not drawn silly game against struggling teams at the time.”
As always, feel free to email in with any thoughts, feelings, predictions, observations and all that jazz. What are your plans for the weekend? Where will you be watching the football? Let me know!
How the Premier League table looks as things stand…
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 35 | 41 | 76 |
| 2 | Man City | 34 | 37 | 71 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 35 | 15 | 64 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 35 | 12 | 58 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 35 | 4 | 58 |
| 6 | AFC Bournemouth | 35 | 3 | 52 |
| 7 | Brentford | 35 | 6 | 51 |
| 8 | Brighton | 35 | 7 | 50 |
| 9 | Chelsea | 35 | 6 | 48 |
| 10 | Everton | 35 | 0 | 48 |
| 11 | Fulham | 35 | -5 | 48 |
| 12 | Sunderland | 35 | -9 | 47 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 35 | -2 | 45 |
| 14 | Leeds | 35 | -5 | 43 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 34 | -6 | 43 |
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 35 | -2 | 42 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | -9 | 37 |
| 18 | West Ham | 35 | -19 | 36 |
| 19 | Burnley | 35 | -36 | 20 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 35 | -38 | 18 |
Ahead of the match at Anfield this afternoon, Andy Hunter and Jacob Steinberg looked at the disappointing seasons both Liverpool and Chelsea have endured.
Today’s Premier League fixtures
Liverpool v Chelsea
Fulham v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Manchester United
Brighton v Wolves
Manchester City v Brentford
We all love the play-offs, but how did they come about? Who thought of the idea and why?
If you’re interested, be sure to give this feature from Sam Cunningham a read…
Championship & EFL play-offs
Championship:
Hull v Millwall (0-0 after first leg)
Middlesbrough v Southampton
League One:
Stevenage v Stockport
Bolton v Bradford
League Two:
Grimsby v Salford
Chesterfield v Notts County
In case you missed the news yesterday, Southampton have been charged with misconduct by the English Football League and will face an independent disciplinary commission set to be convened “at the earliest opportunity”.
Middlesbrough remain furious after catching a man they maintain belongs to Tonda Eckert’s backroom staff allegedly spying on a vital training session before today’s Championship playoff semi-final first leg against Southampton at the Riverside Stadium.
Middlesbrough face Southampton in the other play-off semi-final today. The match kicks off at 12:30pm BST at the Riverside Stadium.
It’s sure to be an interesting one after the events of the last few days…
The Championship play-offs kicked off last night, with Hull and Millwall holding each other to a 0-0 draw. It’s all to play for in the second leg, which takes place on Monday.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! There may only be three weeks left of the Premier League season but this has the potential to be one of, if not the most decisive. The one to watch this weekend is West Ham v Arsenal - a match that will have huge repercussions at both ends of the table. But that one is tomorrow, so we’ll talk about that a bit later.
Before that, we have a clash between Liverpool and Chelsea to look forward to. Both teams go into the match off the back of a loss. Chelsea suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to a second-string Nottingham Forest side, while Liverpool fell to a 3-2 loss against Manchester United. Both teams are also still looking to qualify for European football, albeit different competitions.
Elsewhere, Brighton host Wolves, Fulham take on Bournemouth and Sunderland face Manchester United. Those fixtures should get you warmed up for the final game of the day as Brentford travel to face title-chasing Manchester City.
As always, we’ll also be looking at the Championship and EFL play-offs, the thrilling Scottish Premiership title race and everything else that’s happening across Europe’s top leagues.
Join us!
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