On Tuesday, French newspaper L’Équipe had already reported that Mbappé would miss the second leg of the Champions League play-off for a place in the round of 16. However, in Spain there was still uncertainty after coach Álvaro Arbeloa stated that the Frenchman would play.
The confirmation came with Real Madrid’s squad announcement, which excluded both Mbappé and centre-back Dean Huijsen, who had started in the 1-0 first-leg win at the Estádio da Luz, secured by a goal from winger Vinícius Júnior.
Among the 23 players called up for the match at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is Uruguay international midfielder Federico Valverde, who went off with discomfort in the league match against Osasuna (a 2-1 defeat) but has since recovered.
On Benfica’s side, the main absentee is Gianluca Prestianni, who has been provisionally suspended by UEFA after opening disciplinary proceedings. The case followed accusations by Vinícius that the Argentine winger racially insulted him in an incident that halted the match at the Luz for 10 minutes.
Read more about this topic: Prestianni is provisionally suspended by UEFA following reports of discriminatory behavior (with video)
The situation has sparked reactions worldwide, but the Benfica player — who had his mouth covered when addressing the Brazilian — denies making any racist remark towards Vinícius Júnior.
Tonight’s match at the Santiago Bernabéu kicks off at 20:00 (Lisbon time) and will be refereed by Slovenian official Slavko Vinčić.
