Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that Kylian Mbappe has recovered from injury and is ready to play for Real Madrid against Lille in the Champions League, saying, “If there is no danger, he will play from the first minute.”
Mbappe suffered a thigh injury during Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Alaves in La Liga on September 24, with a source telling ESPN that the striker is expected to be sidelined for around three weeks.
However, the France captain traveled with the Madrid squad to Lille on Tuesday, and speaking in his pre-match press conference later, Ancelotti confirmed that Mbappe was back in contention.
“Yes, he recovered well and quickly,” Ancelotti said. “But he trained alone only yesterday. He was out for a short time so he didn’t lose his condition. We will train now, he will train with us and then we will evaluate it and make the right decision.” We don’t want to take any risks.”
Mbappe – who has scored seven goals for Madrid this season in all competitions – missed only one match, Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the derby on Sunday.
“He was suffering from fatigue,” Ancelotti said. “Now with the new technology they are talking about the first and second grade… In less than a week, he recovered well. He wanted to travel to play. If he feels 100%, he can play. If there is no danger, he will play from the first minute.”
The Madrid derby was stopped in the second half when the referee stopped the match after Atletico fans threw objects behind one of the Metropolitano’s goals.
Ancelotti was reluctant to comment on criticism from Atletico coach Diego Simeone and captain Thibaut Courtois Koke, after they claimed it was the goalkeeper’s celebration of Eder Militao’s goal that sparked the incident.
“As always, I respect everyone’s opinion,” Ancelotti said. “But I think the case is quite clear. There was violence at the match, and violent people cannot be at a football match, or in society… Everyone saw what happened.
“Talking about Courtois’ behavior when (the fans) sang ‘die’ during the match (in his face) I don’t know how many times… he’s missing the point. I don’t know what else to say.”
Madrid midfielder Aurelien Chouamini condemned the behavior of the fans.
“This is not good for the image of football,” Tshwamini said. “It could be in Spain, France, Brazil, or anywhere else… A lot of people and children are watching the matches, and they want to enjoy the spectacle. We have to deal with this problem.”
Real Madrid beat Stuttgart 3-1 in their opening Champions League match at the Bernabeu, while Lille – fifth in Ligue 1 – lost 2-0 to Sporting Lisbon.
