Real Madrid are left sweating over Kylian Mbappé’s fitness after the Frenchman reportedly aggravated his hamstring while on international duty.

Mbappé joined up with Zinédine Zidane’s squad for the November international break, intent to lead Les Bleus in UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and Türkiye. Except alarm bells sounded on Wednesday when the forward was absent from training.

L’Équipe report Mbappé is suffering from a hamstring strain and will miss Thursday’s clash with Italy. The team “hopes” its captain will be available against Türkiye, which means he will remain with the group, unlike Aurélien Tchouaméni.

The midfielder only lasted a couple days with France before he was sent back to Madrid with a right adductor injury. Tchouaméni is undergoing further tests to determine the severity of the issue.

The Bright Side of Mbappé’s Worrying Injury Update

Even the slightest of problems to Mbappé would spell disaster at Real Madrid. The France international leads the team with 17 goals in 16 appearances, and is currently on a seven-game scoring streak.

But there’s no cause to panic ... yet. If the hamstring issue was a full blown injury, Mbappé would have been sent home immediately, much like he was during the September-October international break.

Since the 27-year-old is staying with France, he is likely dealing with a minor problem that does not require extensive treatment. If Mbappé indeed does not play against Italy, he has three extra days to get back to full fitness before Sunday’s match with Arda Güler and Co.

José Mourinho and Real Madrid would of course rather their superstar forward return to the Spanish capital at the first sign of danger, but Mbappé and France clearly do not think he needs to withdraw from international duty at the moment.

Things can change in the coming days, but as of now, it looks like Mbappé avoided a major problem.

Mbappé’s Workload Taking a Toll

It’s not exactly a surprise Mbappé is dealing with discomfort. The Frenchman has played an alarming number of minutes during Real Madrid’s eight-game winning streak.

Not only has Mbappé started every match, but he has also logged at least 84 minutes in each one.

Mourinho has raised eyebrows with his management of Mbappé. It’s one thing to start the Frenchman in every single match, but it’s another to leave him on the pitch until the final whistle in games that Real Madrid had wrapped up by halftime.

Against Racing Santander, Los Blancos were up 3–0 by the 36th minute. Mbappé inexplicably logged the full 90 minutes. By the 63rd minute against Sevilla, Los Blancos were winning 3–0. Mbappé did not get replaced until the 84th minute.

Even against Valencia, a team with just two wins in La Liga this season, Mbappé logged 89 minutes in a lopsided 3–0 win.

Going straight into international duty with France would have only added more stress to an already concerning workload. At least now Mbappé will potentially get some additional rest and only have to play limited minutes for Les Bleus before returning for an important stretch of fixtures for Real Madrid.