KIlian Mbappé produced his most understated performance for Real Madrid this season against Osasuna. Still, he put the ball into the top corner of the goal, disallowed for millimeters of offside, and passed to Vinicius to find himself one-on-one with Sergio Herrera.
However, since the club announced on December 31st that he would be sidelined with a sprained right knee, his knee problem is still lurking against El Sadar. The discomfort started when he was injured in a 2-0 loss against Celta on December 7, and has not been able to play at 100%. He was absent from the match against City, but returned alongside Xabi Alonso until the medical certificate was released on New Year’s Eve. There was definitely one goal behind this. His goal was to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo as the club’s all-time leading scorer in a single year, and that motivated him to play to the best of his ability. Eventually, he will rival the Portuguese star.While the numbers show little sign of alarm – it’s even strange that he hasn’t scored in two games in a row, given his goal average this season – the sentiment on the pitch is alarming. Despite suffering from knee problems for the past two and a half months, he has been the most used outfield player in La Liga this season and the second most used in all competitions.The final wake-up call came in the final game at the Bernabéu, against Real Sociedad. Kylian joined the team the night before the match after missing group practice for two days, but came on as a substitute and did not play even a minute.
In the first leg against Benfica three days later, Arbeloa was dissuaded from taking any risks. After returning from injury, he played in seven consecutive games with an estimated three weeks’ rest, six of which were complete games, but that period was significantly shortened by his return in the Spanish Super Cup final. Xabi Alonso had already hoped that he would join the team in Saudi Arabia, and it was a surprise trip for him to play 14 minutes against Barça on January 11, but 11 days after the medical certificate was submitted, the striker was found to be very weak.
Arbeloa thanks him for his dedication.
Xabi Alonso returned from Saudi Arabia and was unexpectedly sacked on January 12th. Arbeloa was in charge in the Copa del Rey, but left Kylian out in the defeat against Albacete. His league debut was on the 17th, and the Bernabeu crowd demanded an explanation. The option of Mbappé sitting out to give his knee time to recover was then discussed, but the coach decided to have faith in the Frenchman, who attended group training alone a few days later.
After the game, the coach thanked Killian for his dedication. “I would like to thank Kylian for his effort. We know he came in with a sore knee and anyone else could have withdrawn in this situation,” the coach said. Kylian is already in good form until he was rested against Real Sociedad. He did not fail in his task of scoring goals. In the group stage, he scored two goals against Rayo, one against Villarreal and Valencia, two against Monaco and two against Benfica.
In the last game against Benfica, there was already a noticeable slowdown. Vinicius is pulling the strings. Speaking before the game in Pamplona, Arbeloa highlighted the player’s progress, saying: “Kilian’s knee is getting a lot better. It’s going very well. It’s not completely gone, but he feels better every day.”
Next match against the national team will be in March
One option for Kylian to rest and recover his knee, especially with the World Cup in mind, is for Deschamps not to call him to the meeting with Les Bleus in March. The national team will travel to the United States to play two friendly matches against Brazil on the 26th and Colombia on the 29th. However, this does not seem to be a very likely option for the French federation at the moment.
According to L’Equipe, the tour has been primarily promoted by FFF’s main sponsor, but also by Kylian Mbappé, none other than Nike. With his contract renewed and the federation set to provide him with more than €100 million a year in funding until June 2034, the brand is likely to rely on the French national team captain for this tour.
Meanwhile, treatment for Killian’s knee continues. There’s a lot at stake for Real Madrid between now and the end of the season, and while it’s clear that Kylian’s goals will be the mainstay, no one has forgotten that this is the year of the World Cup and everyone is thinking about the United States.
