Mbappe out for Madrid cup game as Ancelotti backs ref complaints

MADRID: Carlo Ancelotti said Kylian Mbappe would miss Real Madrid’s upcoming Copa del Rey quarter-final against Leganes with a bruised calf and backed his club’s complaints about Spanish refereeing on Tuesday.

French striker Mbappe was hacked down by Espanyol’s Carlos Romero during their 1-0 La Liga defeat on Saturday with the defender avoiding a red card and going on to score the winning goal against the league leaders.

On Monday Madrid sent a letter to the Spanish football federation blasting refereeing in Spain as “rigged” and “completely discredited”. “Mbappe started to train today, yesterday we gave him an extra day of recovery,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“He has a bruised calf, he trained normally but tomorrow he will not be available for the game.” Ancelotti said the decision not to send off Romero was “inexplicable” after the game and reiterated his point ahead of the Leganes clash.

“We’re talking about something that’s inexplicable, we’re talking above all about the welfare of the players, and what Madrid’s message asks for is an explanation, and that seems right to me,” said Ancelotti.

“We want an explanation about what happened and why nothing was done to look after the welfare of the player.” Ancelotti also said Jude Bellingham was set to miss the Leganes game with a knock, along with David Alaba, who was ruled out with a thigh injury earlier Tuesday.

The Austrian defender will miss between two and three weeks, according to Ancelotti. Alaba, only recently back from a year-long knee injury absence, will be unavailable for the derby clash in La Liga against Atletico Madrid on Saturday and is unlikely to feature in the Champions League play-off tie against Manchester City.