Real Madrid News
Villarreal confirm they will not file complaint against Valverde, decision up to Baena
After the incident last night between Federico Valverde and Alex Baena, Villarreal have issued an official statement (h/t MARCA) confirming that they will not be filing a complaint against the Real Madrid midfielder.
However, they also state that if Baena decides to proceed with a complaint, they will support the midfielder, who is supposedly very disturbed by what went down.
“Villarreal CF SUPPORTS and WILL SUPPORT Baena in this situation and will respect the decision he takes as an AFFECTED PARTY, whether he decides to denounce Valverde or not. The club will NOT denounce Real Madrid in this matter,” the statement read.
“Baena is affected both by the aggression and by what is said about the alleged motive for the aggression, which he claims (as he says in his statement) is FALSE. Baena was (and is) unaware of Valverde’s family situation and ‘would never mess with something like this’ with another footballer.”
The incident occurred after Real Madrid’s 2-3 defeat to Villarreal on Saturday night at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Valverde went after Baena after the match in the car park area and punched the midfielder in his face.
Soon after, reports emerged that the Uruguayan international had lost his cool owing to some incendiary comments made by the Villarreal star over his wife’s pregnancy complications.
Baena had allegedly made disgusting remarks towards Valverde’s wife’s condition back in January during the Copa del Rey meeting between both teams. And it is said that the Villarreal star once again said something about the same in last night’s game which upset Valverde.
There was no mention of the incident in the referee’s official match report as it occurred after the game and outside the pitch. So unless Villarreal or Baena file a complaint or the national police file a report themselves, there will unlikely be any sanctions against the Real Madrid star.
If the complaint is filed, the midfielder could face a sanction of at least four matches which could further increase based on the sanction proposal made by the Anti-Violence Commission.
Real Madrid will be looking to pick up their fifth win of the 2026/27 La Liga season when they take on Elche CF at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero later tonight.
With 12 points from five games, Los Blancos are currently second in the league table, three points below leaders FC Barcelona.
As such, the Spanish capital club will be eager to get the win and close the gap to the top.
Guler starts, Bellingham rested
Ahead of kickoff, Real Madrid have announced the starting lineup that will take the field against Elche, with Jose Mourinho making some important changes.
For starters, Arda Guler is back in the lineup after appearing as a substitute in the win over Rayo Vallecano.
Interestingly, however, he starts in the attacking midfield role, with Mourinho opting to rest Jude Bellingham, who has started all of Real Madrid’s games so far.
That also means that Yan Diomande retains his place in the team, starting for a second time in a row on the right wing. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. continue in their respective positions in attack.
Another notable change sees Aurelien Tchouameni make his first start of the season after recovering from injury and making two appearances off the bench.
He replaces Bernardo Silva as Federico Valverde’s partner in the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marc Cucurella come in as full-backs, while Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen slot in at centre-back in front of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
📋✅ ¡Nuestro XI inicial!
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 15, 2026
🆚 @ElcheCF
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