Real Madrid have confirmed that Kylian Mbappe has suffered a thigh injury ahead of this weekend’s derby clash with bitter rivals Atletico in La Liga. Los Blancos confirmed the news on Wednesday, with the French superstar now expected to miss around three weeks of action.
Mbappe was substituted during Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Alaves and looked uneasy when he came off the field. According to the first estimates, these are ex-Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco men unavailability after approximately three weekswhich would rule him out against Atleti but also for the French national team.
“Following tests carried out today by Real Madrid’s medical service on our player Kylian Mbappé, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg,” said the official statement from the Spanish and European champions. “His progress will be monitored.”
The 25-year-old Mbappe scored in this week’s five-goal thriller at the Santiago Bernabeu and has five goals to his name from just seven appearances so far this season. Real’s Head Coach Carlo Ancelotti suggested the Frenchman was “overworked” as the injury occurred within days of his injury. Rodri from Manchester City and Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen is injured.
“He’s fine, he’s fine – a bit overloaded,” the Italian said after the Alaves’ victory, which closed the gap with Barcelona at the top of La Liga to one point for the time being. “He asked me for the change to avoid problems.”
Real now face Atletico without Mbappe in the Madrid derby on Sunday, with Los Merengues unbeaten in 39 games since defeat to Diego Simeone’s side a year ago. He will also miss a first competitive return to France as a Real player when Los Blancos face Lille in the UEFA Champions League next week.
Furthermore, the French national team captain is unlikely to be available to Didier Deschamps for the matches against Israel and Belgium during the October international window. With seven goals from nine games, despite a rather unconvincing start in Spain, it comes at a far from ideal time for Mbappe and Real.
What does this mean for Mbappe?
This comes at a frustrating time for the newcomer, who is still finding his feet in the Spanish capital after a slower-than-expected adjustment period. Adjusting to La Liga – especially on the road – has proven to be more challenging than many expected, while Mbappe is not the only one having to adapt. His new teammates like it Jude Bellingham and Vini Jr. had to get used to the French star while people like Rodrygo and Endrick have also had to accept slightly different situations than perhaps first expected. However, the Brazilian duo have a lot to gain in the coming weeks, with Mbappe’s absence likely to mean better game time for them and a chance for Ancelotti to try out other options. The same goes for Didier Deschamps and Les Bleus, who actually looked better without Mbappé last time out against Belgium and will now have to do without him in October.
What does this mean for Echt?
It’s clearly not a good thing for the Spanish giants, but there are ways to look at the positives that this period of absence could bring for Mbappe. Endrick and Rodrygo will get more minutes, allowing the two to show Ancelotti what they are capable of, while Vini Jr. doesn’t suddenly have to fight as much to compete, given how similar he and Mbappé are in terms of their playing styles and left-sided preferences. . This injury and Bellingham’s recent problems illustrate that Real could be in danger of seeing some of their key stars hit the ground before Christmas, so perhaps this came at the right time to be heeded as a cautionary tale can always be acted upon. Real to keep key players through a long and testing campaign.
Don’t miss CBS Sports Golazo Network’s Morning Footy, now in podcast form! Our crew brings you all the news, opinions, highlights and humor you need to follow The Beautiful Game in every corner of the world, every Monday to Friday, all year round.