According to the latest report from "Diario Sport," the Real Madrid dressing room was surprised by Mbappe's absence, and Courtois is expected to start.
It is reported that Mbappe will not appear at the Camp Nou, which is an unexpected development in Real Madrid's El Clásico squad list—previously, everyone believed that the French forward would definitely be selected, especially after his condition reached the standard for participation after the recent training sessions at Valdebebas.
In fact, Mbappe's temporary absence surprised the Real Madrid dressing room. Some teammates had even bet that he would start. This season, Real Madrid has lacked him in many key battles. From a physical point of view, Mbappe should have been on the squad list.
On Thursday, he completed part of the training with the team, and on Friday, he participated in the full training session, but he was absent from the last 5 minutes of training on Saturday. He encountered muscle overload, which largely depends on the player's own feelings—muscle tears have a clear treatment plan, but this type of soreness does not.
With the World Cup coming up, players certainly don't want to take risks. Mbappe has been out of action for 16 days after feeling a sting against Betis. He has discomfort in his left hamstring, but the MRI showed no injury. He played 81 minutes in that game and was then taken off due to slight pain.
Afterwards, he missed training and also appeared in Sardinia with his girlfriend, actress Ester Exposito. The Real Madrid president made no secret of his displeasure when he saw pictures of Mbappe vacationing in Sardinia, while his teammates were training.
Courtois has been out for a month and a half, and this period has been the most difficult moment for Real Madrid this season—the team has fallen apart, and without him on the goal line, Real Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League, and lost three points in a row against weaker opponents in the league, falling behind in advance.
To make matters worse, there were problems in the dressing room: the team lacked a leader who could truly stand up when captains such as Carvajal and Valverde showed selfish behavior. Courtois is likely to be in the starting lineup for this crucial battle for Real Madrid.