3 stars miss out as Real Madrid announce squad for FIFA Intercontinental Cup final against Pachuca: Reports
Real Madrid are set to face Mexican side C.F. Pachuca in the Intercontinental Cup final at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Wednesday, December 18. The Spanish giants will be, however, without three superstars in their squad for the clash.
Los Blancos announced their 24-man squad for the final on Monday, December 16. Dani Carvajal, David Alaba, and Eder Militao were the three absentees as all are out injured. Carvajal suffered an ACL injury in October, which will see him miss the remainder of the season. Militao suffered the same fate in November.
Alaba, meanwhile, had suffered an ACL injury in December last year. He has only recently returned to individual training but has yet to feature in a competitive match. All three players, however, will be traveling to Qatar with the squad.
Kylian Mbappe, who also recently suffered an injury, has been included in the squad after returning to training with the first team. Ferland Mendy has also not been included in the squad to face Pachuca after his recent injury.
Real Madrid's squad for Intercontinental Cup final: Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Fran Gonzalez, Lucas Vazquez, Jesus Vallejo, Fran Garcia, Antonio Rudiger, Raul Asencio, Lorenzo Aguado, Youssef Lekhedim, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Federico Valverde, Arda Guler, Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo Goes, Endrick, Brahim Diaz, Gonzalo Garcia, Victor Munoz
Carlo Ancelotti on Kylian Mbappe's potential involvement in Real Madrid's clash against Pachuca
Kylian Mbappe (10') opened the scoring for Real Madrid in their 3-2 win over Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium in the UEFA Champions League on December 10. However, he had to come off 26 minutes later due to a thigh issue.
After the game, manager Carlo Ancelotti provided an update on the Frenchman and if he'll be fit for the Intercontinental Cup final. He said (via Goal):
“Mbappe isn't anything very serious. He won't be there for the match [against Vallecano], [but] he'll travel to Qatar and see if he can play part of the [Intercontinental Cup] without risk.”
Mbappe, indeed, missed Real Madrid's clash against Rayo Vallecano away in LaLiga on Saturday as they drew 3-3. Since arriving on a free transfer in the summer, the Frenchman has registered 12 goals and two assists in 22 games across competitions for the Spanish giants.
He did, however, score in their UEFA Super Cup win over Atalanta in August and will hope to help win his second trophy with Real Madrid on Wednesday.