France captain Kylian Mbappé missed the team’s final training session ahead of the away match against Italy in the Nations League. The Real Madrid forward sat out the session and received medical treatment, while the French Football Federation said he was not injured.
However, French newspaper L'Équipe reports a minor muscle problem in the back of his thigh. According to the report, Mbappé is unlikely to feature in the match against Italy, while he is expected to be fit for France’s next game against Turkey.
“Mbappé is receiving treatment,” the national team staff said, without specifying the nature of the problem. The discrepancy between the official position and L'Équipe’s report leaves uncertainty surrounding the captain’s condition, but the missed training session raises doubts about his appearance on the pitch in Milan.
France will visit Italy on Thursday, November 12, at San Siro in Milan. Three days later, Zinedine Zidane’s side will host Turkey in Bordeaux.
In the absence of the injured Ousmane Dembélé, Mbappé was expected to take up the centre-forward position. In the previous match against Turkey, he played on the left wing and opened the scoring, but left the pitch because of pain in his left knee. France won the game 1–0.