“We hope it’s not serious. At the moment, it is uncertain whether he will be present against City. It is very important to us.» Present in Nyon yesterday at UEFA headquarters for the Champions League draw, Emilio Butragueno did not give reassuring news from Kylian Mbappé. Instead of the planned two weeks of absence, the Frenchman risks missing the round of 16 of the Champions League and the international break, for a hoped-for return during the first half of April.
From two weeks, we went to a month and a half of absence. We hope to see him again after the international break, available for the C1 quarter-finals, provided that his club is there of course. Another bad sign is that Real Madrid has still not communicated the extent of his injury since the latest revelations from the Spanish press. The latter is quite pessimistic about the state of health of the French player. “He had never been off work for this long and feels disoriented”writing Marca This morning.
A player with a reliable physique
It should be remembered that the 2018 world champion, since the start of his career, has missed very few matches for physical reasons. He always took very good care of himself, carrying out this famous extra work to prevent injuries. He doesn’t have the reputation of being a night owl either, like his former teammate at PSG for example. There was only this 2019/2020 season where he suffered a few problems (ischio, thigh, adductor), then the following in the middle of a pandemic where he was affected in the calf in particular.
For the rest, he is a physically reliable player. This is why this long stoppage is cause for concern, especially since it could have been avoided after this shock to the left knee that occurred against Celta on December 7. His absence was short-lived and his return too quickly anticipated. He aggravated his injury and an MRI eventually revealed a ligament injury requiring at least three weeks of recovery. A competitor at heart, he forced himself to come back during the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, until he stopped gritting his teeth. He must observe a new stop, longer this time.
