Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe will miss the Copa del Rey quarter-final against Leganes due to a bruised calf, the club’s manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed on Tuesday.
Mbappe suffered the injury in Saturday’s 1-0 La Liga defeat to Espanyol, where he was hacked down by Carlos Romero. The incident sparked controversy after Romero avoided a red card and went on to score the winning goal.
Ancelotti described the decision not to send off Romero as “inexplicable” and reiterated his point, saying the club wants an explanation for the incident.
“We’re talking about something that’s inexplicable, we’re talking above all about the welfare of the players, and what Madrid’s message asks for is an explanation, and that seems right to me,” Ancelotti said.
Real Madrid sent a letter to the Spanish football federation on Monday, blasting refereeing in Spain as “rigged” and “completely discredited”.
In addition to Mbappe’s injury, Ancelotti also confirmed that Jude Bellingham will miss the Leganes clash with a knock, while David Alaba has been ruled out with a thigh injury.
Alaba, who only recently returned from a year-long knee injury absence, will be unavailable for the derby clash in La Liga against Atletico Madrid on Saturday and is unlikely to feature in the Champions League play-off tie against Manchester City.
Antonio Rudiger is also a major doubt for the Manchester City clash with another thigh injury, leaving youngster Raul Asencio and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni as Madrid’s likely centre-back pairing.
