Real Madrid’s season is reaching a surreal conclusion. Álvaro Arbeloa’s side still has the Clásico to try to salvage some pride from a fractured dressing room, and delay Barcelona’s league title celebrations.
Kylian Mbappé will not be part of that mission. The Frenchman was left out of the squad for the trip to Barcelona after failing to complete the final training session before the Camp Nou clash, leaving five minutes early, according to reports. Despite training fully on Friday, he could not finish the session on Saturday due to lingering weakness in his hamstring.
The club’s explanation was brief: Mbappé tried but remained weak in the affected hamstring area. He was unable to overcome problems with the semitendinosus muscle in his left leg. Recall that he had suddenly asked to be substituted with ten minutes left in the match against Betis at La Cartuja — a delicate moment just before the hosts equalized in stoppage time, ultimately sealing the league title for Barça.
The French international repeatedly touched his left hamstring while speaking with club medical chief Niko Mihic, then headed straight to the dressing room for initial assessment. He missed the subsequent match against Espanyol, which Real Madrid won without him.
What made matters worse was that Mbappé was seen arriving at Barajas airport in his private jet after spending the weekend in Cagliari with his girlfriend, during his recovery from yet another physical setback. “The entire recovery plan for injured players is supervised and managed by Real Madrid’s medical services, who control when they need to be at Valdebebas and when they don’t. From there, each player, in his free time, does what he considers appropriate, and I cannot intervene,” Arbeloa said, without naming Mbappé.
This absence from the Clásico adds to other notable ones: against City, Atlético, Benfica, as well as his limited appearances in last year’s Copa and this season’s Super Cup.
The week’s events in the Real Madrid dressing room, with the leaked incident between Valverde and Tchouaméni, have worsened the image of a squad searching for scapegoats after a second trophyless season. Compounding speculation, Mbappé was caught on camera leaving Valdebebas laughing, after an alleged confrontation between two key players.
Tchouaméni, however, was included in the squad.
The club handled the altercation — which left Valverde with a head trauma — with a fine, at least immediately and publicly. With Mbappé, there is a *laissez-faire* attitude and an urgent need to protect the behavior of what should be their biggest star. “Him smiling after training is just an attempt to use a situation to cause harm. Just like with Carreras at the Espanyol match. I appreciate his professionalism,” Arbeloa defended him in his toughest press conference yet, the one before the Clásico and after the leaked incident.
