Kylian Mbappe’s rare injury setbacks often arrive before big games

Kylian Mbappe has enjoyed a largely injury-free career, especially during his first 18 months at Real Madrid, where he has played almost every minute and scored relentlessly.

Yet a frustrating pattern has emerged: when problems do arrive, they tend to hit just before a final, a derby or a major knockout game.

Soon after joining Madrid in 2024, muscle discomfort forced him to miss his first derby against Atletico and left him short of full fitness for the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, which Real then lost. At the Club World Cup in the United States, gastroenteritis sent him to hospital, caused significant weight loss and kept him out of the group stage of a tournament he had been desperate to play.

This season, the “curse” has intensified. A left-knee issue flared up against Celta Vigo, ruling him out of a Champions League group game versus Manchester City and limiting him in the Spanish Super Cup, where Madrid again fell to Barcelona in the final.

A relapse before the Benfica tie has now sidelined him for the last-16 first leg against City, with the club eyeing the Etihad return on March 17 as a cautious comeback target. Mbappe has resumed running at Valdebebas, but with the World Cup approaching, Real Madrid are determined not to rush him back.