Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe will have to wait for his Club World Cup debut, which provided Los Blancos get through, will come in the knockout stages. The Frenchman’s condition has improved in recent days, but he has not been deemed fit enough to return to action.
The 26-year-old was taken ill last week with a virus, which hospitalised him briefly. Ruling him out of their games against Pachuca and Al-Hilal, this week Mbappe did return to exercising. However their final group game has come too soon for him, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Mbappe was back working with the rest of the team on Wednesday, but as reported by Cadena SER, has been left out of their matchday squad to face the Austrian side. He posted on social media saying ‘finally back’ with an image of himself training, but after losing significant weight to the virus, Real Madrid will not risk him. He has now been laid low for the past 10 days.
Los Blancos head into their final group game knowing that a victory over Salzburg or a score draw will be enough for them to top their group. All the same, their opponents in the Round of 16 will not be easy, with Los Blancos likely to face one of Juventus or Manchester City.
After picking up a red card against Pachuca, defender Raul Asencio will also be missing. Antonio Rudiger is primed to take his place alongside Dean Huijsen after returning from injury against the Mexican side, while Gonzalo Garcia Torres has done plenty to earn the nod in Mbappe’s absence for a third time. Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Dani Carvajal, Endrick Felipe and Eduardo Camavinga are all out with injuries still too.