Villarreal star Alex Baena has called out a journalist on Twitter/X for inciting hatred and threats against him and his family, after an incident on Monday night. The controversy stemmed from a challenge where Baena went in with his shoulder and connected with RCD Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s head.
The Mallorca defender had to be taken off, and taken to hospital with a head injury, as his teammates asked for a red card that was not given. Baena was booked and Valjent spent the night in hospital, before being given the green light and being allowed to return to Mallorca. His availability remains dependent on his recovery.
https://twitter.com/alexbbaena/status/1882042151447716025
El Confidencial journalist Albert Ortega posted the incident on Twitter/X with the following caption on the same night as the incident.
“Alex Baena has caused head trauma to Martin Valjent due to this attack without the ball involved. Villarreal was winning 4-0 against Mallorca in the 80th minute. The Mallorca player has been admitted to hospital. Shameful.”
To which Baena responded the following day with a text on the same social media.
“The first thing I did as soon as the game ended was apologise and go check on him, because it wasn’t intentional, far from it. I didn’t see your tweet or mention anything about similar plays that have happened this season. I guess they don’t let you. That said, thanks to journalists like you (if you can be called that) both I and my family received very serious threats. Luckily I have already experienced this and I know how to deal with it in a different way than how I dealt with it at the time. Greetings and I hope he recovers soon.”
Pensaba que los que te redactaban los tweet eran más rápidos e ingeniosos. Un saludo “periodista” https://t.co/vA89zJIEBZ
— Álex Baena (@alexbbaena) January 22, 2025
The spat did not end there though, with Ortega going on the offensive again.
“Baena, you are one of the most unsportsmanlike and dirty footballers in Spain. You attack players and dive. Here they hit you on the shoulder and you pretend it’s in the face. Bringing up insults against your family, which are intolerable, does not absolve you of having caused Valjent’s head trauma.”
“I thought that those who wrote your tweets were faster and more clever. Greetings, ‘journalist’,” responded Baena again.
The back and forth has so far been left at a final tweet with Ortega, who was desperate to get the last word in.
“I thought that the conversation your coach had with you, where he talked about your “bad temper”, “anger” and ultimately, your behavior, was going to work. However, you have sent a colleague to hospital for a regrettable action. Greetings back.”
Baena has previously been involved in a rivalry with Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde, with the Uruguayan allegedly punching him after a game. Baena has been keen to put the incident behind him though.
