The Mirror reported Figo's comments this week as Real Madrid's season continued to unravel. The club confirmed fines for both midfielders following the training ground incident on Thursday that left Valverde hospitalised with a head injury requiring stitches. Disciplinary proceedings remain open.
Figo, who played for Real Madrid between 2000 and 2005 and won the Ballon d'Or in 2000, was candid about the inevitability of what he saw.
"They both have too much energy. It's not normal, and it shouldn't happen within a team environment. But it won't be the first or the last time something like this happens."
He acknowledged the fines without suggesting they would prevent future flashpoints.
"When frustration builds, players can react in abnormal ways. I can't really add much more because Real Madrid has already released a statement on the matter."
The season has been defined by dysfunction at every level. Former head coach Xabi Alonso was sacked following poor results and reports of dressing room unrest. His replacement, former Real Madrid and Spain defender Álvaro Arbeloa, has not stabilised things. Defender Antonio Rüdiger struck left-back Álvaro Carreras in a separate training ground confrontation weeks earlier. Midfielder Dani Ceballos was excluded from the squad after a falling out with Arbeloa. French forward Kylian Mbappé drew criticism for travelling to Italy during his injury rehabilitation.
Real finish the season without a trophy for the second consecutive year. They trail Barcelona by eleven points in La Liga with four games remaining and were eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Bayern Munich.
Sunday's El Clásico at Camp Nou — a match Real must win to prevent Barcelona being crowned champions in front of them — will be played without Valverde, who faces ten to fourteen days of rest. The same dressing room that fractured this week must somehow find something for ninety minutes against the team that has spent the season exposing everything wrong with them.
Figo is not optimistic. Given what he knows about the energy inside that group, it is hard to argue with him.