Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti sought to calm any fears of injury on Tuesday night, after he admitted that star forward Kylian Mbappe came off due to minor discomfort. Madridistas will no doubt be concerned until he returns to training though, as it would not be the first time that discomfort has turned into something more.
Mbappe was the only player alongside Thibaut Courtois and Fede Valverde to have played all of their minutes so far before he was taken off in the 80th minute against Alaves. At the time the biggest worry was that Alaves netted twice in the six minutes after that to make it a nervy ending.
🗣️ @rubenuria: “A player kicks another in the balls without the ball being involved. And many media outlets and journalists (??) are conducting polls like: ‘Did it seem like a red card to you? Was it a yellow? What do you think?’ They’re so scared. When you get a dog, you… pic.twitter.com/mRjh5H33Pe
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) September 25, 2024
On Sunday, Los Blancos travel to the Metropolitano to face Atletico Madrid in their city derby, the scene of their only defeats last season. Marca say that Mbappe should be fine for that clash, and that the French forward clearly felt there was no need to risk anything with the game comfortable at that point.
Ancelotti returned to the three up front that he has been using on Tuesday night, and it worked wonders against Alaves during the opening hour of the game. After they relaxed, Los Blancos ran into more problems, but perhaps Mbappe’s incisive one-two with Jude Bellingham was the best news about the win for Real Madrid. All eyes will be on Ancelotti to see if he sticks with Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes alongside him, fitness permitting.
