The Real Madrid player is set to miss out on a place in Deschamps’ starting XI for their second game in the group stage.
Kylian Mbappé is, according to AS, set to miss out on France’s second Euro 2024 game in Group D against the Netherlands.
The player, who broke his nose in a challenge in Les Bleus tournament opener against Austria, has been training with a mask in the days leading up to the game. However, reports suggest that the player will not make it back in time and will start on the bench as manager Didier Deschamps is forced to rotate his attacking line.
‘Kylian is feeling better’, says Deschamps
The crunching incident occurred towards the end of the game against Austria, which France won 0-1 thanks to an own goal from Max Wöber in the first half. As for his recovery, Mbappé did not require surgery and after a session of no-contact training on Wednesday, the player was allowed to return the following day and took part in the complete session with the rest of the group.
“I can confirm that Kylian is feeling better,” Deschamps admitted at his pre-match press conference ahead of the game in Leipzig. “Everything is going in the right direction after this major shock he had, with the consequences, of course. Yesterday [Wednesday] he was able to go out and do some activities. It is the same case tonight [Thursday]. It has evolved in the right direction to ensure that he can be available tomorrow.”
“Kylian will be wearing a mask, yes” he added when asked about the protective equipment, “we don’t really need to know the details about this mask … I think you have enough moles to find out where the mask is coming from anyway.”
Will Kylian Mbappé play any minutes against the Netherlands?
This is the million dollar question. While the information has spread that the Real Madrid forward will start on the bench, it is not yet known as to whether the forward will be fit enough to have any minutes on the pitch at all.
If the game is, as expected, a tough task for the French and the Netherlands put up a good fight in the battle for top spot, the chances of seeing the player with such game-changing talent will surely rise.
As mentioned, Deschamps was positive ahead of the game regarding Mbappé's fitness, and these sentiments were reflecting in the words from Antoine Griezmann, who said that “Kylian is doing well, the swelling has gone down on his nose. We’ll see in the last minutes how he is feeling. We are in the competition now and we are ready to continue. We want to win the trophy.”
The game between the Netherlands and France will be played on Friday, 21 June 2024. Kick-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET/ noon PT at RB Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena. You can follow the game live with AS USA, where Joe Brennan is on hand to provide minute-by-minute text coverage as the action unfolds in Group D of this fascinating tournament.