Alvaro Arbeloa Responds After Kylian Mbappé Training Spat With Real Betis Clash Looms

Real Madrid’s season has been derailed by results including an early exit in the Spanish Cup third round and a defeat to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with the club facing the possibility of ceding the LaLiga title to Barcelona if it cannot beat the rivals in El Clásico on Sunday. Kylian Mbappé, Real’s centre-forward, is also at the centre of internal and fan scrutiny, with The Athletic cited as saying he was involved in a training ground spat with members of the coaching staff ahead of a recent league clash with Real Betis. The same report says the incident was followed by Mbappé being spotted taking a break in Italy with his partner, prompting interim head coach Alvaro Arbeloa to respond to media questions about fan frustration. Arbeloa said, "In their free time, each player does what they see fit, and I don’t get involved in that," as the club waits to see whether Mbappé is back and ready for Sunday’s match.

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BBC

BBC Sport says Mbappé is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained in late April against Real Betis, making him a doubt for Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona, and it adds that he was given time off last week and traveled to Sardinia during his recovery period. The BBC reports that photographs of him on a yacht emerged around the same time Real were playing Espanyol, and it quotes Arbeloa saying, "In his free time, Mbappe can do whatever he wants, like any other player." The discontent has escalated into organised fan action, with the BBC describing an online petition calling for "Mbappe out" that aimed to collect 200,000 signatures and reached "More than 12 million" in less than 24 hours. The BBC also notes that Mbappé’s representatives released a statement saying any criticism "does not reflect the reality of Kylian's commitment and daily work for the team," as Real approach a season without LaLiga or Champions League silverware.

With Real set to face Barcelona in El Clásico at the Spotify Camp Nou, the BBC frames the immediate stakes as whether Mbappé will be fit to feature, after "After last week's tests, it looked as though it might take a bit longer." Transfermarkt adds that Real’s troubles include the possibility of losing the LaLiga title to Barcelona if it cannot win on Sunday, and it says everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for Los Blancos in recent months. Beyond the match, the BBC describes a broader backdrop of fan frustration and rumours of dressing room unrest, while Transfermarkt points to Mbappé’s season numbers and the question of whether Real have been better without him in the starting XI. The BBC also says Real are trailing Barcelona in La Liga by 11 points and were ousted from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, leaving the club’s next results tightly bound to the scrutiny on Mbappé and the team’s ability to deliver silverware.

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