Mbappé drops out of the fight for the league. In the 38th minute of the first half of the match between Alavés and Real Madrid, the French striker was involved in a tough and surprising action. The white player made an obvious tackle on Antonio Blanco, at the height of the calf, in a play far from the ball and without apparent competitive tension.
After the tackle, Soto Grado opted to show Mbappé a yellow card, but he was warned from the VOR room by Gil Manzano: “César, César, I recommend that you come to the monitor for a potential sending-off”. In the background, the tension on both benches can be heard while the man from La Rioja goes to the monitor: “Okay, give it to me, the impact is high. Okay. The impact is high, it’s intense, there’s twisting, it’s a red card. I’m taking the yellow card away from Kylian Mbappé and giving him a red card”.
Will Mbappé miss the cup final?
The presence of Kylian Mbappé in the final of the Copa del Rey between Real Madrid and Barça in Seville on April 26th is in the hands of the Competition Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). According to the report written by César Soto Grado, Kylian Mbappé was sent off “for using excessive force by sliding into an opponent’s shin with his foot while challenging for the ball”.
The phrase “while challenging for the ball” makes it clear that the Frenchman will be sanctioned with a two-match ban, which means he will be available for the Copa del Rey final barring a surprise, according to various analysts. If the sanction is finally two matches, Mbappé will miss the match on Sunday 20th at 21:00 against Athletic and the midweek match on Wednesday 23rd at 21:30 against Getafe at the Coliseum.
That match is played 3 days before the Copa del Rey final scheduled for Saturday the 26th at 10 p.m. In the event that the sanction is more than two matches, which seems unlikely, the striker, vital for the Whites, would miss the final for the title, which may be the only one of the season.
Where Kylian Mbappé will be and is expected to be decisive is in the miraculous comeback that Real Madrid needs against Arsenal this Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabéu after being defeated 3-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals in London.