Madrid says ‘big possibility’ Mbappé plays against Juventus
Kylian Mbappé is about to make his debut in the FIFA club World Cup during the 16 -year -old Real Madrid ring against Juventus at the Club World Cup, coach Xabi Alonso saying that it is a “great possibility” that the attacker will be able to play.
Mbappe, 26, was forced to miss the three group games from Madrid – against Al Hilal, Pachuca and RB Salzburg – after receiving a diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis on the eve of the tournament.
Madrid has reached the direct elimination stages of the Topping Group H to reserve their meeting with the Italian giants of Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and Alonso is convinced that France International Mbappe will finally be able to play.
“Kylian is going well now and we are talking about every day,” Alonso told journalists. “We will talk to him in the morning to make the final decision.
“It is a great possibility that he made his debut in the Club World Cup tomorrow. I do not know how much, but it is a great possibility.”
After replacing Carlo Ancelotti as a coach at the end of the 2024-25 season, Alonso is less than a month in his new role at Madrd after leaving Bayer Leverkusen. And the former Madrid midfielder, Liverpool and Bayern Munich said that his work was starting for real Tuesday with the match “all or nothing” from Juventus.
“Each match is now all or nothing,” said Alonso. “It’s a huge match and we have been preparing for a few weeks to be ready for tomorrow.
“We are now in the direct elimination phase, 16 of the last against a high -level team like Juve, so we will have to have a very complete performance to go.
“This match is important. This is a very different competition for those in which we are normally playing, but Real Madrid is very demanding and you have to win.
“It’s our third week together. I am pumped, very excited, but there are so many things that you have to manage – footballers, so many people, based on confidence for the future.
“We spend a lot of time together, which helps us accelerate the process. So far, it has been very difficult. With a competition also intense in a short time, to be able to build our principles, it is difficult.
“We establish connections to these early stages, but we reach a time when we have to do it tomorrow.”
Juventus coach Igor Tudor said he hoped that Luka Modric de Real continues to “have 40” before what could be the last midfielder’s match for the club.
Modric will leave Madrid for AC Milan after the Club World Cup and Tudor, a former Modric teammate in Croatia, said that he had love only for the former winner of the Ballon d’Or.
“What can you say about Luka?” Tudor said. “We have less than 4 million people in Croatia, so a person like him bring him a lot of pride for the country. He’s a player you all see, but he’s just a normal person. It represents our country in the best possible way.
“I love him and I hope he will continue to have fun, even if he is now 40 years old.”
