Gavi Responds to Madrid: Coach Shouldn't Play Tchouameni After Violence

In a league where every gesture is magnified and every word ricochets between Barcelona and Madrid, Gavi has chosen not to stay quiet.

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona midfielder addressed the storm that has blown through the Bernabéu dressing room in recent days: reports of a fierce confrontation between Aurélien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, one that allegedly escalated over two days and ended with Valverde needing stitches in hospital.

For Gavi, there is a clear line. And in Madrid, he believes, that line was crossed.

If it comes to blows…

Gavi knows what a tense training session feels like. He lives in that competitive edge. He even defended that part of the game.

“I am one of those who thinks that there are always going to be scraps there with your teammates training at a time of the season, because that is how it is, it is competitiveness and that is always fine up to a point, obviously,” he said.

Up to a point.

The point, for him, is when it stops being football and starts being violence. That is where he turns his gaze towards Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa and the club’s response.

“But in the end, if it comes to blows, well then the coach should not play him. If it is true that they came to blows, for me he made a mistake by calling him [Tchouameni] up and making him play. But I don't know the truth of what happened either.”

The reference is clear. Tchouameni featured against Barcelona on May 10, in a 2-0 defeat that sealed La Liga for the Catalans. For Gavi, allowing a player allegedly involved in a violent altercation to step straight back into the team sent the wrong message.

The implication is sharp: competitiveness is part of elite football; physical aggression between teammates should not be brushed aside in the name of results.

Titles, tension and the Negreira shadow

The conversation did not stay on the training ground for long. In Spain, nothing involving Barcelona and Real Madrid ever does.

Gavi’s comments arrive against the backdrop of Florentino Pérez’s recent remarks about the Negreira case, in which the Real Madrid president claimed his club had been “robbed” of seven La Liga titles. That accusation struck a nerve in Barcelona, where players and staff feel their recent success is constantly questioned.

The 21-year-old did not hide his frustration at what he sees as a deliberate attempt from the capital to diminish Barça’s achievements.

“Everything knows that from Madrid they are always going to belittle or take credit away from the things that we win or our titles. So that shouldn't matter to us. As I tell you, it has a lot of merit to win two Leagues in a row with many homegrown people, many people from La Masia and without many signings.”

There is pride in that sentence, but also defiance. Barcelona, battered financially and forced into restraint in the transfer market, have leaned heavily on their academy. Gavi stands as one of the clearest symbols of that shift, a La Masia product carrying the badge and the argument.

Winning two consecutive league titles, he insists, means more when done with a core of youth graduates rather than a constant stream of expensive arrivals.

Two models, one rivalry

Gavi did not name Real Madrid’s stars, but the contrast he drew could not be more obvious.

“In the end there have been very few signings. Other teams have signed many players every year and it is something to be proud of.”

On one side, a club forced to look inward, to trust its academy, to promote teenagers and live with their mistakes. On the other, a club that continues to refresh its squad with high-profile signings and heavyweight investments.

For Gavi, that divergence is not just a financial reality; it is a badge of honour. Barcelona, in his eyes, are proving that a team built around La Masia can still stand toe-to-toe with a superclub stacked with marquee names.

His words land in the middle of a rivalry that rarely sleeps. A training-ground fight in Madrid, a title-clinching win for Barcelona, accusations from the president of one club, a fierce defence from a rising star of the other.

The season may be over, but the battle for the story of it has only just begun.