Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were today included in the Real Madrid squad for tomorrow night’s Champions League clash with Manchester City.
Mbappe missed the first leg of the round-of-16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu last week due to a troublesome knee injury but returned to training yesterday and will fly with the rest of the squad to England later today.
The France striker is Madrid’s leading goalscorer this season with 23 in 23 games in La Liga and another 13 in eight Champions League outings.
It is thought he will start on the bench at the Etihad, especially as Madrid already hold a 3-0 advantage thanks to Federico Valverde’s hat-trick last week. Madrid are expected to keep Mbappe in reserve in case he is needed against Pep Guardiola’s side while also ensuring he is ready to start the weekend derby against Atletico.
Real Madrid bolstered by Bellingham return
Bellingham has not played for Madrid since February 1 due to a thigh injury and was not expected to return for another week. His presence will be welcomed but it is unlikely the England international will see any playing time in his homeland.
In further good news for Madrid, who beat Elche 4-1 on Saturday to remain four points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, left-back Alvaro Carreras was also named in the travelling party.
Carreras trained over the weekend and is likely to be available in the left-back slot that has caused issues this season. His absence last week meant the injury-prone Ferland Mendy started against City but had to come off at half time in favour of Fran Garcia.
