Kylian Mbappe Injury: Misses opening game due to illness

Mbappe (illness) missed the opening game for Real Madrid against Al Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup and is still a doubt for Sunday's clash against Pachuca, coach Xabi Alonso said in the press conference. "We don't know. We need to see how his recovery is going. He hasn't been able to train well in recent days. He's been in a bad way, with a significant viral infection, and we'll have to keep an eye on it."

Mbappe is currently dealing with a significant viral infection and couldn't feature in Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Al Hilal for the first game of the Merengues in the FIFA Club World Cup. The France captain will likely be assessed in the coming days and will hope to resume training to play as early as possible under new coach Xabi Alonso to assimilate his way of play and create connections ahead of the pre-season with the Casa Blanca. Until Mbappe returns, the young Gonzalo is replacing him as the striker and has scored his first goal of the competition in the opener.