Kylian Mbappe suddenly had to miss the second leg of the Champions League playoff round against Benfica with his left knee acting up, and it looks like he will miss the next Champions League match against Manchester City, too.
Once again, Real Madrid will face Man City in the Champions League knockout stages, and while there was optimism at first that the French superstar would be able to feature in the first leg, it looks like that will be too soon of a comeback.
According to a report from Spanish outlet Carrusel Deportivo, Mbappe will have to miss three more weeks with this latest left knee tweak, taking him out of the first leg vs. Pep Guardiola’s men.
Mbappe was already ruled out for Monday night’s tough game against rivals Getafe, which was obvious, and he will also miss the Friday night game against Celta Vigo, which was also expected.
Not having Mbappe for one game against Manchester City is a big deal, but Real Madrid should be able to make do, even without their best player and top goal-scoring threat.
As we saw against Benfica, players like Vinicius Junior can step up for Real in the big games, and Rodrygo Goes will be back, too. Both Vinicius and Rodrygo have already thwarted Man City multiple times in the Champions League knockouts without Mbappe – and once without Karim Benzema.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.