Kylian Mbappé was ultimately unable to participate in the decisive match against Portugal this Saturday. The native of Bondy will therefore have missed 8 of the last 13 games of the France team after playing the previous 31. Since his arrival at Clairefontaine on Monday, November 9, the PSG striker had, it is true, to be satisfied with races and individual exercises but without touching the ball.
Even if Didier Deschamps hoped to be able to align him in Lisbon, against the European champions, he resolved to leave him in the stands. Starting him for a high-intensity game was too much of a risk after two weeks without playing. Hit in the right thigh against Nantes on November 1, Mbappé then forfeited the meetings in Leipzig in the Champions League, then against Rennes in L1. “If there had been only one spike, it would have picked up after a week or 10 days. There, it’s been 15 days and he only does muscle awakenings and jogging so it may be a little nastier than expected, believes Emmanuel Vallance, the physical trainer of Valenciennes passed through Metz, Nice and Sochaux. In a season like no other with high cadences, the coaches are careful because if the injury worsens the unavailability can then become much longer. “
He wants to be 100% for the reception of Leipzig
When relations have calmed down between the medical staff of the France team and PSG, Deschamps, faithful to his logic, did not want to take the slightest risk. He was also unequivocal on this subject when the selection was announced on November 5. The 21-year-old international striker (38 capes) recently reported a form of physical and mental wear and tear. After participating in the Final 8 of the Champions League in August, despite the after-effects of his right ankle injury contracted in the final of the Coupe de France on July 23, he then tested positive for Covid-19 early September, a few days after his decisive goal in Sweden with the France team (1-0).
His summons with the Blues, however, continues to make some waves. It thus aroused the anger of Jérôme Rothen on Friday in his program on RMC. “What can you call a player who was injured in a club and who missed big deadlines with PSG? wondered the former international player of PSG. Even if he is indebted for the Blues, he needs to be treated, even more in the current context, while it is said that they have not had any preparation since the beginning of the year. The evolution of the injury and the importance of the result of Tuesday’s game against Sweden will undoubtedly determine his eventual presence at the Stade de France. The fear of the player is not to be able to be 100% for the capital match of PSG against Leipzig in 10 days in C1. The race against time is on.
