Kylian Mbappe put in one of his most discreet performances for Real Madrid this season against Osasuna. Even so, he put the ball into the top corner in a goal disallowed for offside by millimetres and played a pass to Vinicius to leave him one-on-one with Sergio Herrera.

However, his knee problems, since the club announced on December 31 that he would be out with a sprain in his right knee, are still latent in the match at El Sadar. The discomfort began when he was injured on December 7 against Celta (0-2) and has not allowed him to play at 100 percent. He was ruled out against City, but returned to action with Xabi Alonso until the medical report was released on New Year’s Eve. In the background, without a doubt, there was one objective in sight: to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo as the best scorer in the club’s history in a calendar year, which drove him to play everything. In the end, he would equal the Portuguese star.The numbers show little sign of alarm, although given his scoring average this season it is even strange that he has gone two games without finding the net, but the feelings on the pitch do. Despite having been suffering from knee problems for two and a half months now, he is the most used outfield player so far this season in LaLiga and the second most used in all competitions.The last alarm bell was in the last match at the Bernabeu, against Real Sociedad. Kylian, after two days without training with the group, joined the squad on the eve of the match but was a substitute and did not play a single minute.

The first leg against Benfica three days later dissuaded Arbeloa from taking any risks. He had then played seven games in a row, six of them complete, since he returned from an injury with an estimated layoff of three weeks, but which was considerably shortened with his return in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Xabi Alonso wanted him to join the team already in Saudi Arabia, a lightning trip to play 14 minutes against Barca on January 11, in which it was seen that the striker was very depleted, 11 days after the medical report was offered.

Arbeloa thanks him for his commitment

Xabi Alonso returned from Saudi Arabia and on January 12 his dismissal came when it was least expected. Arbeloa took charge for the Copa del Rey, but left Kylian out in the defeat to Albacete. The league debut was on the 17th, with a Bernabeu crowd demanding explanations. The option of Mbappe staying out to give that knee time to recover was then debated, but the coach decided to count on the Frenchman after he joined group training after several days on his own.

At the end of the match, the coach thanked Kylian for his commitment. “I want to thank Kylian for the effort he has made. We know that he comes with a sore knee and that anyone else in this situation could have backed out,” said the coach. Kylian is already on the bandwagon until his rest against Real Sociedad. He does not fail in his appointment with the goal: two goals against Rayo, another against Villarreal and Valencia, two against Monaco and two against Benfica in the group stage.

The slowdown is already noticeable in the last match against Benfica. Vinicius is pulling the strings. Before the match in Pamplona, Arbeloa highlights the player’s good progress.“Kylian’s knee is much better. Very well. It’s something that hasn’t completely disappeared, but every day he feels better,” he says.

Next match with the national team in March

One of Kylian’s options to rest and recover his knee, especially with the World Cup in mind, is for Deschamps not to call him up for the March meeting with Les Bleus, where the national team travels to the United States to play two friendlies, on the 26th against Brazil and on the 29th against Colombia. However, this does not seem a very likely option for the French Federation at the moment.

According to L’Equipe, this tour has been largely driven by the FFF’s main sponsor, but also by Kylian Mbappe, who is none other than Nike. He has renewed his contract and the federation will pocket more than 100 million euros a year until June 2034, and the brand is likely to count on the French national team captain for this tour.

Meanwhile, the management of Kylian’s knee is ongoing. There is a lot at stake at Real Madrid between now and the end of the season and it is clear that Kylian’s goals are the mainstay, but nobody forgets that it is a World Cup year and that everyone has their mind set on the United States.