It has been a difficult season for Real Madrid overall, but the last seven days have been particularly turbulent for the club.
Antonio Rüdiger clashed with Álvaro Carreras earlier in the week, while on Thursday Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde were also involved in a physical altercation, which resulted in the latter being hospitalized.
These incidents were the boiling point for a locker room that has become increasingly divided over recent months.
One of the figures at the centre of the situation is club captain Dani Carvajal, who has been benched by coach Álvaro Arbeloa in recent weeks, as doubts have mounted over the veteran defender.
In particular, his skills as a leader have been called into question.
The inability to stop the aforementioned conflicts, along with Real Madrid's declining performances in the biggest matches, has led some members of the dressing room to call for a new system for choosing captains, according to "Diario AS".
For many years, Real Madrid has chosen captains based on seniority at the club – that is, who has been part of the team the longest.
Carvajal took over the role from Luka Modrić last summer and, under the current system, he is expected to be succeeded by Valverde when he leaves, which could happen at the end of this season.
However, many within the dressing room want the captains' group to be chosen democratically, similar to how El Clasico rivals Barcelona determine their captains.
Barcelona uses a hybrid system that also takes seniority into account, which is why Ronald Araújo is currently their captain.
It is clear that big changes are needed within Real Madrid and this could be one of them.
The decision on a possible change to the captaincy system will be in the hands of Florentino Pérez and the club's board, while it remains to be seen whether they will decide that a new approach is necessary./Express newspaper/
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