The medical crisis at Real Madrid continues, with a new episode involving Kylian Mbappé. The French forward played throughout December with pain in his left knee after the club's medical staff initially misdiagnosed the issue, as reported by RMC Sport and confirmed by this newspaper. This calamitous error boiled down to diagnosing the wrong knee. The player had discomfort in his left leg, but the images studied after the MRI were of the right knee.
All of this took place in the week of December 8th. Mbappé got injured on Sunday the 7th against Celta and underwent the necessary medical tests, which officially showed no significant injury. Despite that, the Frenchman missed the Champions League match against Manchester City, a crucial game in the group stage that ended in a defeat for Madrid.
Training on December 30th
Instead of extending his time off, with the diagnosis from Madrid's medical staff in hand, Mbappé played the full 90 minutes in the following three matches against Alavés, Talavera, and Sevilla. Always with discomfort. Then came Christmas. The Madrid players went on vacation and returned in the last days of the year to Valdebebas, where an open training session was held on December 30th. That morning, Mbappé showed signs of pain, and on the 31st, not trusting his feelings, he underwent medical tests again. This time, the result was different: a sprain in the left knee.
Sources from Real Madrid consulted by this newspaper state that there have been no dismissals in the medical department, but right after Mbappé's medical report, Niko Mihic returned as the head of the first-team medical services. Mbappé once again trusted the diagnosis and recovery process of Madrid's doctors and returned to play in the Spanish Super Cup final, experiencing several weeks in January and early February with uncomfortable sensations in his knee. He wasn't feeling right.
That's why he sought a second medical opinion in Paris, specifically at the clinic of Dr. Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, with whom Mihic got in touch when Mbappé wasn't improving. He made the trip in early March, and Madrid announced that "the diagnosis of a sprain in the left knee and the appropriateness of the conservative treatment being followed have been confirmed. However, this Monday, in the French capital, Mbappé stated, "I have fully recovered and I was fortunate to receive the correct diagnosis upon arriving in Paris," rejecting the December diagnosis in his words and spending a whole week in Paris to recover.
"I'm starting to play gradually, without skipping the recovery stages. Not knowing what was happening caused me a lot of frustration and anger. Until recently, I didn't have a diagnosis. From that moment, everything said before is false. I've heard many things, about surgery, about not being able to play in the World Cup... The diagnosis came on a specific date, and everything said before is not true," criticized the Frenchman at an event this Monday.