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Kylian Mbappe was, along with five other crucial players, missing from the Real Madrid training session ahead of their Copa del Rey round of 16 game against Albacete Balompie, as per reports.
Start of a new era at Real Madrid
A new chapter has started at the Santiago Bernabeu following Real Madrid parted ways with Xabi Alonso on Monday, a day after the Supercopa de Espana final loss against Barcelona. Reserve team manager Alvaro Arbeloa will take charge of the first team for the visit to Carlos Belmonte Stadium.
Why Mbappe was absent from Alvaro Arbeloa's first training session?
Mbappe has been facing a knee issue and managed to play as a substitute in Sunday's final, coming on for Gonzalo Garcia in the 76th minute. It was claimed that the French forward was yet to fully recover and could only play a small part of the game.
Real Madrid are gearing up to face Albacete in their next game, but the club could be without some of its first team players for the Segunda Division team. As per Diario AS, Los Blancos' training session today was marked by several absentees, with Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger, Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Ferland Mendy all missing from the pre-match routine in Valdebabas.
Just like Mbappe, Rudiger is having fitness issues but didn't feature in Sunday's final. Rodrygo, who played the full 90 minutes against Barcelona could be given rest for the Albacete game.
Mendy seems to have suffered a fresh setback after he was ruled out against their Clasico rivals. Militao and Alexander-Arnold have been on the sidelines for some time now and are not expected to return anytime soon.
Arbeloa calls five Real Madrid youth players in his first training session
In the absence of Mbappe and other first-team players, Arbeloa called up as many as five players to train with the Real Madrid first-team squad.
As per Marca, Arbeloa called up Manuel Angel, Cestro, David Jimenez, Joan Martinez, and Palacios in his first practice session.
Managing the first youth side since 2020, the 42-year-old has a deep knowledge of talents at La Fabrica and labeled the club's academy as the 'best in the world' in his first press conference as first team coach. He said:
“Real Madrid’s academy is the best in the world, and we’ve proven that for many years. There are players from La Fábrica all across the globe. Tomorrow we’ll face some of them. I’ve been lucky to coach many players over the years, and they’ve brought me here. They have a huge opportunity because the first-team coach knows them better than anyone. The standards I demand are Real Madrid standards. They know I'll be counting on them.”
In addition to managing Los Blancos, Arbeloa played and came through the ranks at the club.
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