France hosts Belgium at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris, this Monday, October 5, for Matchday 4 of the UEFA Nations League.
Zinedine Zidane’s team will be without Kylian Mbappé, and the Real Madrid star won’t even be on the bench. The reason is an injury the 27-year-old attacker suffered in the match against Turkey on September 25, when France won 1-0, with a goal from Mbappé in the 54th minute.
Just five minutes later, in the 59th minute, the former PSG player was substituted for Desire Doue due to a knee problem. He is expected to return to highly competitive action within one or two weeks.
In fact, Mbappé was expected at Valdebebas this Monday to train with Real Madrid, but it sparked controversy: training was scheduled for 10:30 in the morning, while the player arrived at 11:16, after his teammates had already arrived at the training center almost an hour earlier.
Since his injury on September 25, Mbappé has been surrounded by controversy, as he first made an appearance in Paris at a party where he was seen with his girlfriend, and then images emerged of him riding a bicycle, something that generated a lot of criticism because, according to reports, Real Madrid players had been advised not to ride bicycles to avoid risking an injury, in addition to the fact that Mbappé had already been injured in the match against Turkey that we mentioned.
Zinedine Zidane Without Kylian Mbappe for France vs. Belgium
With Kylian out, Zinedine Zidane lined up an attack consisting of Ousmane Dembélé, Esteban Le Paul and Bradley Barcola.
The midfield will be led by Magnhes Akliouche, Eduardo Camavinga and Manu Koné, while the defense will be composed of Andy Diouf, Maxence Lacroix, Lenny Yoro and Jules Koundé, with Guillaume Restes in goal.
This match against Belgium is France’s last match of the current international break, so we will not see Mbappé play for the national team again until November.
Real Madrid’s next commitments are first on October 10 in a La Liga match in which they will host Villarreal at the Bernabéu Stadium, then four days later they will visit AS Roma for Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League, and another four days later they will host Sevilla at the Bernabéu for another La Liga match.
On October 21, they will host RB Leipzig for the third matchday of the Champions League, while four days later, on October 25, they will visit Barcelona at Camp Nou in a new edition of El Clásico, a match that will undoubtedly be the most important of the month for the Merengue side and for Kylian Mbappé, in addition to being their final scheduled match in October.
Mbappé will probably miss the match against Villarreal on October 10, and is expected to return either for the match against Roma on October 14 or for the match against Sevilla on the 18th.
Why Is Kylian Mbappe Not Playing Today for France vs. Belgium?