Mbappé Returns to Valdebebas with a Bandage and a Mission

Valdebebas, Tuesday — The photograph every Madridista had been waiting for finally materialised at the club’s training complex: Kylian Mbappé back on the grass, boots laced, eyes fixed on the Champions League horizon. The French forward took every drill at full throttle alongside his teammates, a protective dressing stretched across his right eyebrow the only hint of the blow he absorbed against Girona.

After missing yesterday’s session, Mbappé’s reappearance instantly shifted the narrative ahead of Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg in Munich, where Real Madrid must overturn a deficit to stay alive in the competition. The 25-year-old completed the full programme without visible discomfort, and staff sources expect him to board the flight to Germany later today.

The elbow that opened a cut above his brow at the weekend has not dented his availability; instead, it has added a layer of theatre to an already high-stakes tie. With goals at a premium and the tie hanging in the balance, Madrid’s hopes of progression rest heavily on the Frenchman’s shoulders—and, evidently, on his freshly bandaged brow.

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