The Bernabéu inferno awaits Kylian: Real Madrid fans settle their scores with Mbappé against Villarreal
Anticipation over Mourinho's stance
Kylian Mbappé faces a very difficult task next Saturday, according to a press report on Thursday involving the France and Real Madrid forward.
Mbappé picked up an injury on France duty against Turkey in the UEFA Nations League and returned to Madrid for treatment. His trip to France, alongside the messages he posted on social media, then sparked major controversy.
Mbappé tries to win over the fans
After his fluctuating performances in recent weeks, Kylian Mbappé is now looking to win back the Real Madrid supporters, according to Mundo Deportivo.
He's doing it in the only way left to him, a way he'd recently neglected: training with the club and putting his physical fitness above everything else.
He trained with the team on Wednesday like any other player, after a quick trip to Paris on Tuesday afternoon for a charity event. He returned to the capital in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Mbappé looked smiling and in good physical shape during the session, ready to face Villarreal on Saturday as La Liga returns from the break.
The final call on whether he starts rests with Mourinho, and he'll make it before the match. Every sign points to Mbappé featuring, yet amid the uproar around the Frenchman, the coach's thinking remains unclear.
Mourinho, who is supposed to carry a stronger personality and more executive authority than any star in the dressing room, has said nothing about recent days, least of all the bicycle incident that caused such controversy. When he does speak in the build-up to the Villarreal match, several things may change.
The Bernabéu crowd settles its scores with the team
After everything that unfolded during the break, and even before it with the Elche incident involving the shirts of Ceuta fans, Real Madrid supporters are expected, barring any surprises, to show clear hostility towards the French player and the rest of the squad following the defeat in the Madrid derby.
It feels as though it happened a long time ago. But Real Madrid's fans do not forget such things, and they know they still have scores to settle with the players, Mbappé above all.
