Kylian Mbappé trained at the same pace as his teammates ahead of Saturday’s game against Levante. As a result, Álvaro Arbeloa could have the French star available for his debut on the Real Madrid bench at the Santiago Bernabéu, or opt to give him a little more rest before Tuesday’s Champions League game against Monaco.
Mbappé had made a lightning trip to Saudi Arabia to feature in the Super Cup final against Barcelona, but did not appear at the Carlos Belmonte. During the session, he was seen talking with Arbeloa, his new coach.
Mbappé has been in recovery for more than a month and a half. He suffered a sprain to his left knee in the game Madrid lost to Celta on December 7. He was unable to play against Manchester City on December 10 because of the issue, and a week later, in Madrid’s visit to Vitoria on December 14, he took two heavy challenges that worsened the injury. Even so, the player wanted to keep playing. His aim was to break Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for goals in a single season with Real Madrid – set at 59 – and to help his then coach, Xabi Alonso, as much as possible. That is why he played 90 minutes against Talavera and another 90 against Sevilla in the final two games of the year.
It was during the open training session on December 30 when the Frenchman clutched his knee after an incident. He did not play in the first game of the year against Betis on January 4, nor in the Super Cup semifinal against Atlético on January 8. He traveled to Saudi Arabia in a largely symbolic capacity and played just 14 minutes, and did not feature in the second Copa del Rey tie. All of that comes on top of a packed schedule with little rest, both for Real Madrid and with his national team. Wearing No. 10, he has logged 2,122 minutes this season for the club alone, appearing in 25 of Madrid’s 29 games, with 29 goals and five assists. With France, he agreed not to play against Iceland in October or Azerbaijan in November. Now come Levante and Tuesday’s game, which carries extra emotion for him, as Madrid face Monaco at 3:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday – the club where he first began to break through in the footballing world.
Elsewhere, Lunin, Mendy, Trent, Rodrygo, Rüdiger, Militão and Brahim – the latter away with Morocco, who play the CAF final on Sunday – did not train. The situations of Rüdiger and Rodrygo stand out. Rüdiger is dealing with ongoing knee issues and played only 60 minutes in the Copa semifinal against Atlético, while Rodrygo continues to struggle with hamstring problems. Mendy, Trent and Militão are pushing through their recoveries – Mendy played 20 minutes in Saudi Arabia against Diego Simeone’s side – while the other two have been out for more than six weeks. Lunin, who started in Albacete, was also absent. A sizeable group of academy players did take part, including regulars Cestero, Palacios and Joan Martínez, goalkeepers Fran González and Sergio Mestre, and Lorenzo Zúñiga, a Castilla forward.