Real Madrid boss Álvaro Arbeloa welcomed back long-term absentees Trent Alexander-Arnold and Antonio Rüdiger to his XI on Saturday, but was forced to leave leading goalscorer Kylian Mbappé on the bench due to an injury setback.
The France international was a doubt in the build-up to Real Madrid’s clash with Real Sociedad after sitting out of two training sessions this past week with lingering discomfort from the knee injury he suffered back in December. Arbeloa insisted Mbappé “is fine” in his prematch press conference, but his starting lineup says otherwise.
