Arbeloa confident Mbappe will be back for Madrid's Champions League second leg

Alvaro Arbeloa is sure Kylian Mbappe will be able to travel with Real Madrid for their Champions League last-16 second leg against Manchester City, but the Elche game comes too soon.

Madrid raced to a 3-0 victory over City thanks to Federico Valverde's first-half hat-trick at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

And they could now be further boosted in the tie by Mbappe's return, with the Frenchman recovering from a left knee sprain, which has proved troublesome since December.

Mbappe is Madrid's top scorer in all competitions with 38 goals, some 25 clear of second-place Vinicius Junior (13), and Arbeloa is confident they will have him back in the squad sooner rather than later.

"[Mbappe] is getting better every day," Arbeloa said in a news conference ahead of the game with Elche.

"His development is progressing as it should. We made a plan. It depends on his progress, but I think he's doing very well. He won't be available [for Elche], but I expect he'll travel to Manchester.

"I want him to be able to travel to Manchester. Let's see tomorrow and on Sunday, when we'll make a final decision.

"Let's hope he's there, and that he's there against Atletico Madrid [on March 22]. As for France, we'll see [if he should rest for the international break] when the time comes."

Madrid return to LaLiga action against Elche as they look to close the gap at the top to Barcelona to just one point.

They had lost back-to-back games but won last time out in the league with a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo.

Elche, meanwhile, sit just one point above the relegation zone, having failed to win any of their last 10 outings in LaLiga (D4 L6).

Arbeloa is not taking anything for granted, despite their visitors' recent struggles, though, insisting Madrid's focus is not straying from Saturday's match.

"We'll field the best possible XI to win," Arbeloa added. "I'm not thinking about anything else.

"The players have to end each match completely exhausted; it's their job. They have to be ready to fight like they did on Wednesday."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Madrid – Federico Valverde

Federico Valverde has scored two goals in his last four LaLiga matches for Madrid, twice as many as he managed in his previous 40 appearances in the competition (one goal).

He is also coming into this game on the back of a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City; he scored as many goals in the first half of that game (three) as he had in 75 appearances in the competition prior to the match (three).

Elche – Andre Silva

Andre Silva has scored seven goals in 21 LaLiga appearances in 2025-26.

It is his best goal tally in a single campaign in the big five European leagues since 2021-22 with RB Leipzig (11 goals in 33 appearances).

MATCH PREDICTION: REAL MADRID WIN

Madrid are unbeaten in their last 15 LaLiga matches against Elche (W12 D3), since a 3-1 defeat in March 1978; it is their longest-ever unbeaten run against them in the top-flight.

At home, Madrid are unbeaten in all 24 of their LaLiga games against Elche (W20 D4). This is their second-longest unbeaten run against a single opponent at home in the competition, after Las Palmas (36 games – W31 D5).

Elche have not won any of their last eight away matches against teams from Madrid in LaLiga (D3 L5), since a 0-1 victory against Getafe in September 2021.

Madrid lost their last home match in LaLiga, 0-1 against Getafe, but they have not dropped points in two successive home games in the competition since October 2021 (D2).

Elche, though, have not won any of their last 10 LaLiga matches (D4 L6) and are one of three teams in the big five European leagues who are yet to win away from home this season, along with Pisa and Wolves.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Madrid – 67.1%

Draw – 18.2%

Elche – 14.7%