Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa has revealed that Kylian Mbappe will be available for their trip to Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 – but Jude Bellingham won’t feature despite being named in the travelling squad.
The duo missed last week’s first leg in Madrid due to injury, with Real winning 3-0 in their absence through Federico Valverde’s hat-trick.
Both were included in Real’s squad list for the second leg at the Etihad on Tuesday, causing some excitement amongst fans that they could see the pair in action as they look to finish the job and reach the quarter-finals.
Will Bellingham and Mbappe feature against Man City?
But Arbeloa delivered some disappointing news about England star Bellingham, who has been out with a hamstring injury suffered against Rayo Vallecano.
”Bellingham wanted to come,” Arbeloa said in his pre-match press conference, “he’s going to be part of the training session but he won’t be available tomorrow. I’m happy to see he’s closer and closer.
“He’s going to be one of the leaders and it’s important that he’s here with us.”
The Los Blancos boss did deliver some positive news on Mbappe, however, with the France captain’s involvement much more likely.
“Mbappe is now available. You’ll see whether or not he’s ready to start tomorrow,” said Arbeloa.
Arbeloa: Real Madrid need to win again
Real are in a hugely advantageous position with a three-goal lead in the second leg but Arbeloa insisted they will go to East Manchester and try and win the game once again as they look to quash any City hopes of a comeback.
He added: “We are very aware of the difficulty of tomorrow’s match and the opponent we face.
“If we want to win, we can’t have anything else on our minds but to perform at a very high level, like in the first leg or even better, with solidarity, effort and sacrifice, and be able to cause them a lot of problems.
“The same as the first leg. We have no other objective than to go out and win with the same humility and commitment as in the first leg.
“Even more so, because it won’t be easy. Humility and ambition are what we need to see tomorrow.”
Check out our in-depth match preview for the Champions League last-16 clash here, including predictions and where you can watch all the action.
