Real Madrid’s Mbappe., Photo courtesy of Real Madrid.
Mbappe, the league’s leading scorer with 24 goals, was not included in Madrid’s squad after failing to recover from a left-hamstring ailment that has kept him sidelined since late April.
Mbappe last week addressed a fresh wave of criticism of him in Spain, insisting he was fully committed to the club and to recovering from his latest injury. Some Madrid fans had expressed concern that the France forward was saving himself for the upcoming World Cup.
Barcelona hosts Madrid at Camp Nou with the opportunity to celebrate the La Liga crown with a victory or even a draw against its fiercest rival. Barcelona enters the last clasico of the season leading Madrid by 11 points with four rounds remaining.
Madrid, playing mostly for pride and to avoid the humiliation of watching Barcelona celebrate at its expense, is reeling after an embarrassing week in which players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni were each fined 500,000 euros ($589,000) for an altercation during training that left Valverde sidelined with a head injury after allegedly accidentally knocking his head on a table.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training last week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rudiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid’s reserve team when Xabi Alonso was fired in January, has Madrid facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in Spanish media that club president Florentino Perez is considering bringing back José Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
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