India, May 9 -- Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde suffered a head injury, the club said, in an altercation with teammate Aurelien Tchouameni ahead of a weekend match against fierce rival Barcelona.

It was the latest disruption to a Madrid squad that has endured a tough season that included lackluster results, a coaching change and fan criticism of stars such as Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe. Madrid could see Barcelona celebrate the league title in Sunday's clasico at the Camp Nou. The Catalan club needs only a draw to win its second league title in a row.

Madrid said in a statement Thursday that "following the incidents that occurred this morning during the first team's training session, it has decided to ope...