(Leipzig) With or without Kylian Mbappé? The France team is hanging on the fate of its captain, victim of a broken nose and whose participation in the Euro 2024 Group D clash against the Netherlands is uncertain, Friday in Leipzig.
Since the injury of the leader of the Blues which occurred at the end of the first match against Austria (1-0), Monday in Düsseldorf, the slightest of his actions has been scrutinized to know whether or not he will be able to hold his place during the second meeting of the tournament. The stakes of the match, a potential qualification for the round of 16, were largely suppressed by the state of health of the attacker, the object of all attention.
His appearance on Wednesday in the small Paderborn stadium for training, with a bandage on his nose, created an event without us being able to precisely assess whether it was good news or not. While his teammates were treated to a very light session, Mbappé arrived on the pitch half an hour later to exchange passes with a physical trainer before joining his comrades for a few hitting exercises, without apparent discomfort.
The player displays as usual a combative state of mind and seems eager to resume as quickly as possible, as proven by the message posted just before on Instagram to the attention of his 118 million subscribers (“Without risks, he ‘there are no victories’). It remains to be seen what Didier Deschamps and his staff will ultimately decide.
One thing is certain, to be able to return to competition, he will have to wear a mask.
His package would in any case be a huge blow for the vice-world champions, extremely dependent on their big star.
“I have always said it, with Kylian, the France team is stronger. If the news is not good, we will fight without him. Kylian is Kylian, in any team he is in, the team is stronger,” said the coach after the game against Austria.
The future Real Madrid player is in essence irreplaceable and in the event of unavailability, Deschamps will have to review his offensive animation, already hardly flamboyant in the first match. Olivier Giroud, the top scorer in the history of the French team (57 goals), holds the rope to replace him at the forefront of the attack, but the technician could also very well reposition Marcus Thuram in the axis, even Randal Kolo Muani.
“When I see the guys we have on the bench, we have the means to replace Kylian,” said Adrien Rabiot on Wednesday. But the Juventus Turin midfielder also wanted to be lucid.
The Netherlands, quarter-finalists of the 2022 World Cup and painful winners over Poland (2-1) on Sunday, are precisely expecting to have to deal with Mbappé in front of them, as if nothing had happened.
“I think Mbappé will be fine in terms of fitness. I think we’ll see him with a mask on Friday. He’s a great [soccer] player and we’ll have to reckon with that,” explained midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
The Oranje are well placed to know the threat represented by the N.10. During the last two confrontations between the two nations, in March (4-0) and October (2-1) 2023 in Euro qualifying, Mbappé found the net four times. It was again he who broke the deadlock on Monday by causing the Austrian goal against his camp. This shows the weight of his possible absence.
