PA Media/DPA
London
Kylian Mbappe will travel to Qatar for next week’s Intercontinental Cup final after the thigh injury he suffered on Champions League duty proved to be not as serious as was first feared.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed the 25-year-old France international will miss Saturday’s La Liga trip to Rayo Vallecano after limping out of Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory at Atalanta, but could yet feature against Pachuca on December 18.
Ancelotti told a press conference: "Mbappe’s injury is not serious. He will travel to Qatar and we’ll assess the risk there and if he can play or play part of the game.
"It’s difficult. He’s been here in the last few games, resting and working hard. We don’t know. Fortunately, he’ll only be out for a short period and will not lose what he has achieved in recent times.” Mbappe’s absence comes as Ancelotti’s continues to deal with an extensive casualty list which has forced him to play Aurelian Tchouameni out of position in central defence.
Asked if the Madrid dugout was the "hottest”, the vastly-experienced Italian replied: "All of them are hot and all coaches have problems in keeping their jobs.
"It’s all normal. Of course this dugout is hot, but like the rest of them.”
Indeed, Ancelotti had words of comfort for Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola, whose side has won just one of its last 10 games in all competition and lost seven of them to pile the pressure on the Spaniard.
The Madrid boss said: "My opinion of him doesn’t change because of the latest results. He’s one of the best in the world and he’s making his mark on football. He has been an innovator.
"We can control a lot of things, but we can’t control the outcome of games. He’s often done well and sometimes it doesn’t work out for you.”