Mbappé Injury: 3-Week Layoff Threatens PSG Star

Real Madrid will have to cope without star striker Kylian Mbappé at the start of the new year. The Spanish football record champions announced that the Frenchman suffered a ligament injury in his left knee. The club did not provide any information about the length of the compulsory break.

The trade newspaper “Marca” and other Spanish and French media now estimate that the 27-year-old will be out for up to three weeks. Mbappé was one of the few bright spots in coach Xabi Alonso’s recently stumbling star ensemble, along with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

According to media reports, it is certain that Mbappé will at least have to watch Royal’s next league game against Betis Sevilla on Sunday. But he will probably also miss the Spanish Super Cup, which takes place in Saudi Arabia between January 7th and 11th, it was said.

Mbappé is hard to replace at Real

One day after the first semi-final between former national coach Hansi Flick’s FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, Real will face city rivals Atlético Madrid in the Supercopa. The winners will contest the final on January 11th. In the previous edition, Barça defeated arch-rivals Real 5-2 in the final.

Mbappé took part in Real Madrid’s public training session on Tuesday without any visible complaints. But recently he kept having knee problems. Nevertheless, he was hardly spared by coach Alonso: He played 2,108 minutes this season and was on the pitch in 24 of Real’s 25 competitive games. He played four of six games for France.

In terms of sport, the 2018 world champion is currently hard to replace with the “Madrileños”: with 18 league goals in 18 games, two goals in the cup and nine goals in five Champions League games, Mbappé has 29 goals and five assists so far this season. In his absence, Gonzalo García or the Brazilian Rodrigo could get a chance and move into the starting lineup.