Unable to play the derby against Atlético this Sunday (9 p.m.), Kylian Mbappé, who is convalescing, hoped to be present at the Metropolitano stadium to support his teammates. Real dissuaded him from doing so.
For the first time this season, undefeated Real Madrid will have to play without Kylian Mbappé. Unable to play his first Madrid derby, the captain of Les Bleus would have liked to attend from the stands. His club nevertheless preferred to dissuade him from going to the Metropolitano stadium in order to avoid any crowd movement, while several incidents have marred the last clashes between the rivals from the Spanish capital, notably against Vinicius.
The muscle injury to the back of the Frenchman’s left thigh, contracted on Tuesday, and his unavailability of at least three weeks are forcing his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, to rethink his attacking style. ” Without Mbappé, it will inevitably change our way of playing a little. But not that much, because last season, he wasn’t there and we were used to playing without him,” the Italian said at a press conference on Saturday. ” It’s a shame he’s not here, but I think we can manage his absence very well .”
Back to last season’s pattern
Facing Atlético Madrid, also undefeated, the best defense in La Liga and the only team to have beaten Real – twice – last season, the Merengues will have to do without their top scorer (7 goals in all competitions). Author of six goals in his last five outings, Mbappé was gaining momentum and was also finding himself increasingly better with his teammates.
The option Ancelotti is considering is to return to his system from last season. With Bellingham playing just behind Vinicius and Rodrygo. Eduardo Camavinga – back from injury – but especially Arda Güler and Luka Modric are in the running to occupy the left midfield position. ” Camavinga is available and can play 90 minutes as well as zero ,” said the Madrid coach. Seeing the Frenchman, who has not played since the start of the season and only returned to team training on Thursday without participating in all of the training sessions, would still be a big surprise.
