Kylian Mbappe has not been able to participate fully in the matches with Real Madrid since the beginning of the season, especially in extremely important matches such as the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Manchester City. The main reason for this is the knee injury that has plagued the French striker for quite a long time.
After the Spanish media investigated the overall cause, they discovered that Real Madrid's medical work was problematic, especially in the case of Mbappe. The French striker's knee injury was misdiagnosed in December 2025. At that time, the MRI results of Real Madrid at that time did not detect anything unusual in Mbappe's right knee.
The 27-year-old striker has played 3 matches since being MRI scanned. After that, everyone discovered the mistake because Mbappe's left knee was the area that needed to be scanned. Previously, Mbappe showed signs of left knee inflammation but he only had an MRI scan on his right knee.
Another time also with MRI technology, Real Madrid's medical team discovered that Mbappe had a torn part of his left post-knee cruciate ligament. On December 31, 2025, Real Madrid announced the results of this scan but missed signs of inflammation. It is unclear what caused this error, but Los Blancos' medical team was inconsistent or subjective in examining their number 1 star more carefully.
Mbappe's knee problem has caused this striker headaches for a very long time. Signs of instability began to appear after Real Madrid's 0-2 defeat to Celta Vigo at home in La Liga on December 7, 2025. Real Madrid's medical team diagnosed that it may be because Mbappe suffered a strong collision while playing.
On December 10, 2025, Mbappe sat on the bench in Real Madrid's match against Man City at home at the Bernabeu in the Champions League. After that, he played all 3 of the next matches. When returning to training after the Christmas holiday on December 30, 2025, the medical team discovered Mbappe hugging his left knee with an uncomfortable face. The next day, Real Madrid announced a medical report, Mbappe was diagnosed with a knee sprain.
After that, the French striker was not in the squad flying to Saudi Arabia to play in the Supercopa semi-final against Atletico Madrid. In the El Clasico at Supercopa on January 11, he came on as a substitute and played 14 minutes in the 2-3 defeat. That was also Xabi Alonso's last match as captain of Los Blancos.
After that, Mbappe played in 8/10 of Real Madrid's next matches, scoring 9 goals, the last goal on February 21. During this time, new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa said that Mbappe's appearance is being closely monitored and his training volume has been reduced.
In the match against Getafe on February 3rd, Mbappe was absent. That was the 2nd/5 matches he did not play. Instead, the striker returned to his hometown, went to Paris to further check on his knee injury and the Real Madrid medical team.
The French star returned in the 2-1 victory over Man City in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. He came on as a substitute in that match and played 21 minutes. Mbappe continued to do the same in the 3-2 home win against Atletico Madrid in the 29th round of La Liga and he played 26 minutes.
Currently, Mbappe has a gathering with the French national team, participating in 2 friendly matches against Brazil on March 26 and Colombia on March 29 in the US.
