Kylian Mbappe could miss Real Madrid vs Barcelona after picking up a painful injury during France’s Nations League win over Turkey on Friday night.
Mbappe scored the only goal of the game in the 54th minute from a Michael Olise assist, to give manager Zinedine Zidane a win in his first match since replacing the legendary Didier Deschamps.
But the Les Bleus captain began limping almost immediately after finding the back of the net and though he attempted to continue, he was unable to do so, leaving the pitch a few minutes later.
Post-match, France teammate and Manchester City star Rayan Cherki attempted to alleviate concerns about Mbappe, telling reporters: ‘He’s fine.
Less football on the telly? Read about it instead
Our exclusive football newsletter cuts through the noise to deliver analysis and gossip straight to your inbox every week. Sign up now for free.
‘At first we were very worried, but then we saw it wasn’t anything serious. He’ll come back stronger, that’s the most important thing.’
But Zidane had a rather different diagnosis, confirming that Mbappe would have to leave the France squad and miss the remaining fixtures against Belgium and Italy.
‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good,’ the manager said.
‘I think he will have to go back. We’re not going to take any risks.
‘He has swelling in the knee. It’s not encouraging, so we’re not going to take any risks.’
The French Football Federation has confirmed that the 27-year-old ‘suffered a tendon injury’ in his left knee and ‘will miss the rest of the camp’, with no replacement called up as yet.
Mbappe is heading back to Madrid for further tests but this news will come of great concern to Real Madrid and their manager Jose Mourinho.
Following a heated derby defeat to Atletico Madrid last time out, Real have slipped to fourth in the La Liga table, six points behind arch-rivals FC Barcelona.
Los Blancos return to action on October 10 against Villarreal and just two weeks later they face their El Clasico rivals at the Camp Nou.
Last season, Mbappe suffered two seperate injuries to his left knee that ruled him out for a total of 37 days and saw him miss seven matches.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
No comments:
Post a Comment