- Les Blues captain was a surprise omission from the latest international squad
- Kylian Mbappé recently recovered from a thigh injury to play for Real Madrid
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The reason Kylian Mbappe was left out of France’s latest squad has been revealed after the Real Madrid striker was strangely omitted despite being fit.
Mbappé is the captain of the France national team and was the surprise name that was missing when Les Blues coach Didier Deschamps named his squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League clashes.
The 25-year-old is the focal point of France’s attacks and the team has previously struggled in his absence, but will have to do so again when they face Israel and neighboring Belgium.
Mbappe has made a good start in Spain after leaving PSG for Madrid in the summer and has scored seven goals in 10 games in all competitions.
A thigh injury kept him out of last weekend’s Madrid derby that ended 1-1, but he returned to the field as a second-half substitute in Wednesday’s shock Champions League defeat against Lille.
Kylian Mbappé was a surprising omission from France’s latest squad despite returning from injury with Real Madrid
Mbappé will not be in any of the next UEFA Nations League matches in France
The 25-year-old recently recovered from a minor thigh injury and took part in the Champions League midweek.
Despite being fit and available for selection, Mbappe will not join his national team colleagues after a conversation with Deschamps left the French coach with an easy decision to make.
Deschamps revealed that while Mbappé has recovered from an injury, he does not want to take unnecessary risks and would prefer to leave his star player at home to recover with more important games ahead.
‘I had an exchange with Kylian. He has a problem that is not serious,” Deschamps told reporters in Paris.
“I’m not going to take risks, that’s why he’s not in the squad,” he added.
France coach Didier Deschamps revealed that he does not want to “take risks” with Mbappé’s physical condition
Deschamps had already been able to turn to Antoine Griezmann to score goals in Mbappé’s absence, but will not be able to do so again after the striker announced his international retirement earlier in the week.
The 33-year-old was a regular at Euro 2024 and made the decision to step away from international duty after 137 appearances for the national team.
Praising the World Cup and Nations League winner, Deschamps continued: “He had such an impact that we cannot play the same way.”
“I’m not necessarily going to change the system, but I’m not going to look for an equivalent player either.”
