France to face Italy without Mbappé

Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid’s star striker, has been sidelined by injury and will miss the classic fixture.

The French national team will have to face Italy in this classic fixture without their captain, Kylian Mbappé. The Real Madrid star striker will have to sit out Thursday’s Nations League clash due to a thigh injury. This was announced by manager Zinédine Zidane at the “Les Bleus” press conference on Wednesday.

“He won’t be able to play tomorrow; he’s been feeling a bit of pain, and we’re not taking any risks,” said Zidane: “It’s a shame when you lose players, but that’s part of the game. I hope it’s nothing serious and that he’ll be back for Sunday’s match.” The French star-studded side will then face Turkey in Bordeaux.

Mancini advised Zidane to rest Mbappé

Mbappé’s withdrawal for Thursday’s match was preceded by a light-hearted “recommendation” from Italy’s national coach Roberto Mancini to Zidane regarding the exceptional French talent. “I’d advise him not to take any risks for tomorrow’s match,” said Mancini with a wink: “It’s better if he doesn’t play so that he can recover properly for the Champions League.”

However, even then, the opposition would still have numerous top-class players in attack. Mancini also remarked with a smile: “If (Michael) Olise catches a cold tonight, it won’t matter.” So far, however, there have been no reports that Bayern Munich’s star player will be absent.