Kylian Mbappe is by far the most important Real Madrid player right now, and ahead of a heated second leg against Benfica, the Frenchman is reportedly not 100 percent, per French outlet L’Equipe, due to a left knee injury.
Although Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa confirmed at Tuesday’s press conference before Wednesday night’s match against the club of Jose Mourinho that his French superstar will be healthy enough to play and is pushing to play despite significant pain, L’Equipe say that Mbappe had to stop the training sessions before the match on Tuesday due to discomfort in the knee.
Mbappe missed two games in January this season with a knee issue, and although he tried playing through pain to save Xabi Alonso’s job, Real did end up shutting him down for a bit.
So they have to be careful with their most prized player. Mbappe is competing for the Ballon d’Or. this season with Harry Kane, and even during the dark times under Alonso when Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham were struggling, the 27-year-old World Cup hero was shining.
Real Madrid need all hands on deck to beat a Benfica side that beat them to end the Champions League “League Phase” and also nearly nicked a point off them in the first leg of the playoff.
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.