Real Madrid News
Federico Valverde could face a four-match ban after Alex Baena incident – report
The incident of Federico Valverde punching Alex Baena after Real Madrid’s La Liga clash against Villarreal is dominating the headlines in Spain.
The Villarreal midfielder’s alleged nasty comments about Valverde’s wife’s pregnancy complications are believed to have riled up the Real Madrid star, leading to his actions.
While from a moral standpoint, Valverde was defending his family’s honour, from the legal point of view, the Uruguayan international could see himself faced with sanctions.
According to reports from COPE, the midfielder could face to a federative sanction of four games for his actions. On top of that, the sanctions proposed by the Anti-Violence Commission will also have to be taken into account.
However, there is a clause for such a situation to come into the picture. Given that neither the match referee nor the game director was witness to the incident and nothing occurred during the minutes on the field, the incident has not been included in the official match report.
The scenario that would see the player penalised is if either Villarreal or Baena file a complaint or the police draw up a record of the happenings in the parking area.
The Yellow Submarines and their midfielder have not filed any complaint yet and have not decided on whether or not to denounce Valverde’s action to the Competition Committee. Nevertheless, developments are expected swiftly.
“Cry now that your son is not going to be born,” were the alleged distasteful words uttered by Baena to Valverde in the Copa del Rey meeting between Real Madrid and Villarreal earlier this season.
The Spanish midfielder is said to have rubbed salt onto the wound with further triggering statements last night which culminated in the Real Madrid star punching him in the face.
According to AS, Real Madrid have sent a three-year contract offer with improved wages to Dani Ceballos and trust that the midfielder will continue at the club.
Ceballos is the last among the seven Los Blancos’ stars who entered the 2022/23 season with an expiring contract whose future is yet to be resolved.
Mariano Diaz, Marco Asensio, and Karim Benzema have all left Real Madrid while Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Nacho Fernandez are all set to continue at the Santiago Bernabeu for one more year.
As such, Ceballos remains the only player whose future remains unclear at this point.
The 26-year-old Spanish international has shown that he can offer value to the team and the club and manager Carlo Ancelotti are understood to ‘love’ him and want to retain his services.
Fans, too, made their feelings about the midfielder very clear this past weekend when Real Madrid played Athletic Club, as they chanted ‘Ceballos, stay!’
The Merengues have sent in a three-year proposal to the former Real Betis ace which includes an improvement in his wages. As such, the club expect him to pen the deal and continue at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, Ceballos is yet to make a decision as he is weighing up the fact that he will have to compete for a place with six other midfielders.
Indeed, Real Madrid already have Kroos, Modric, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, and Aurelien Tchouameni as competition for Ceballos. Now, they will also add Jude Bellingham to the roster, further amping up the battle for places.
Ceballos has two more offers apart from the one from Real Madrid – one from Spain and Italy each, although his former club Real Betis have not sent a proposal yet.
With the season over and less than three weeks left on his contract, it remains to be seen what the Real Madrid ace decides.
