Mbappé starts against Villarreal despite controversy, Mourinho defends him

Kylian Mbappé will start Saturday evening at Santiago-Bernabéu against Villarreal, two weeks after suffering a left knee injury during the Turkey-France match. José Mourinho confirmed it unambiguously in his press conference: the 27-year-old French striker “will play” and “will not be on the bench”.

Mbappé’s presence in the Real Madrid squad is unsurprising from a sporting perspective, but it comes in a tense context. In recent days, some socios have been irritated by the France captain’s behaviour during his recovery: an outing in Paris with Ester Exposito and a cycling video posted on his social media have fuelled criticism.

Mourinho swept aside these reproaches with sharp frankness. “It’s ridiculous,” he said, before detailing point by point the elements that sparked the controversy. On the alleged nightclub outing, he clarified that it was not such an evening. On the cycling episode, he explained that Mbappé was staying at a hotel in Switzerland made up of small houses where bicycles are simply used to reach common areas. “You’d have thought he was competing in the Tour de Suisse!” the Portuguese coach quipped.

The Madrid manager also blamed the press, accusing them of seeking to create a hostile climate around the former Paris player. “It’s one of your objectives, you don’t need to be Einstein to understand that,” he said. On the reception the Bernabéu will give Mbappé, Mourinho refused to comment, simply hoping that supporters “will be capable of being fair”.

On the squad front, Yan Diomandé and Vinicius Junior are also available, as are Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouameni in midfield. However, Mourinho will have to manage without Raul Asencio, Eder Militao, Dean Huijsen, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo Goes, which limits his defensive options to Ibrahima Konaté and Antonio Rüdiger in the centre.