{"id":17430,"date":"2026-05-05T19:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/17430\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T19:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:37:14","slug":"kylian-mbappe-defends-commitment-to-rehab-after-trip-to-italy-before-el-clasico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/17430\/","title":{"rendered":"Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 Defends Commitment To Rehab After Trip To Italy, Before El Cl\u00e1sico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\"><a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/kylian-mbappe-2-player\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kylian Mbappe<\/a> responded to a fresh wave of criticism in <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/spain-women-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spain<\/a>, insisting on Tuesday he remains fully committed to recovering from his latest injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">The <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/real-madrid-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Real Madrid<\/a> and <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/france-women-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">France<\/a> forward is sidelined by a left hamstring issue which is casting doubt about his availability for Sunday&#8217;s cl\u00e1sico in <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/barcelona-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Barcelona<\/a>, the biggest match in Spanish soccer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">During his time off, Mbapp\u00e9 reportedly traveled to <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/italy-women-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Italy<\/a> with actress Ester Exp\u00f3sito last weekend, prompting criticism in Spanish media that he may not be taking his rehabilitation seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Madrid fans also questioned why the league&#8217;s best striker was on holiday ahead of the cl\u00e1sico.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Mbapp\u00e9 denied any wrongdoing through a statement from his representatives sent to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">&#8220;Part of the criticism is based on an overinterpretation of elements related to a recovery period strictly supervised by the club, without reflecting the reality of Kylian\u2019s commitment and the work he puts in every day for the team,&#8221; the statement read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Unhappy Real Madrid supporters believe Mbapp\u00e9 is saving himself for the World Cup that begins in five weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">He also drew criticism earlier this season when he couldn&#8217;t play because of a knee ailment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Madrid has little to play for in the final stretch of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">The club has been eliminated in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and is virtually out of contention in <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/la-liga\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">La Liga<\/a> as it trails <a class=\"entity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/soccer\/barcelona-guayaquil-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Barcelona<\/a> by 11 points with four rounds remaining.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Barcelona could clinch on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Madrid has yet to say whether Mbapp\u00e9 will be fit and available for the cl\u00e1sico.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Spanish media say Mbapp\u00e9 went to Madrid\u2019s training center on a day off to continue his recovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"false\" data-v-ace7f8b6=\"\">Reporting by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kylian Mbappe responded to a fresh wave of criticism in Spain, insisting on Tuesday he remains fully committed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5852,556,557,82,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-17430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-madrid","8":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-kylian-mbappe","11":"tag-madrid","12":"tag-real-madrid"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}