MADRID (AP) 鈥� Real Madrid will be without the injured Kylian Mbapp茅 in Sunday’s clasico that could seal a second straight for Barcelona.
Mbapp茅, the league’s leading scorer with 24 goals, was not included in Madrid’s squad after failing to recover from a that has kept him sidelined since late April.
Mbapp茅 last week of him in Spain, insisting he was fully committed to the club and to recovering from his latest injury. Some Madrid fans had expressed concern that the France forward was saving himself for the upcoming World Cup.
Barcelona hosts Madrid at Camp Nou with the opportunity to celebrate the La Liga crown with a victory or even a draw against its fiercest rival. Barcelona enters the last clasico of the season leading Madrid by 11 points with four rounds remaining.
Madrid, playing mostly for pride and to avoid the humiliation of watching Barcelona celebrate at its expense, is reeling after an embarrassing week in which players Federico Valverde and Aur茅lien Tchouam茅ni were ($589,000) for an altercation during training that left Valverde sidelined with a head injury after allegedly accidentally knocking his head on a table.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training last week. 脕lvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a 鈥渕inor鈥� incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio R眉diger got into a scuffle.
脕lvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid鈥檚 reserve team when Xabi Alonso was fired in January, has Madrid facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in Spanish media that club president Florentino P茅rez is considering bringing back Jos茅 Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
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