MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid will be without the injured Kylian Mbappé in Sunday's clasico that could seal a second straight Spanish league title for Barcelona, which will be in mourning following the death of coach Hansi Flick's father.
Mbappé, the league's leading scorer with 24 goals, was not included in Madrid's squad after failing to recover from a left-hamstring ailment
that has kept him sidelined since late April.Mbappé last week addressed a fresh
wave of criticism of him in Spain, insisting he was fully committed to the club and to recovering from his latest injury. Some Madrid fans had expressed concern that the France forward was saving himself for the upcoming World Cup.
Barcelona hosts Madrid at Camp Nou with the opportunity to celebrate the La Liga crown with a victory or even a draw against its fiercest rival. Barcelona enters the last clasico of the season leading Madrid by 11 points with four rounds remaining.
It will be an emotional match for Barcelona following the news — announced just a few hours before kickoff — of the death of Hans Flick, the father of the team's head coach.
“FC Barcelona and the entire blaugrana family wish to send all our love to Hansi Flick after the passing of his father,” Barcelona said in a statement. “We share in your sorrow and our thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.”
Hansi Flick is still expected to be on the bench for the match. Spanish media reports that Barcelona players will wear black armbands as a sign of mourning and there will be a minute's silence held before kickoff.
Madrid, playing mostly for pride and to avoid the humiliation of watching Barcelona celebrate at its expense, is reeling after an embarrassing week in which players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni were each fined 500,000 euros ($589,000) for an altercation during training that left Valverde sidelined with a head injury after allegedly accidentally knocking his head on a table.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training last week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid’s reserve team when Xabi Alonso was fired in January, has Madrid facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back José Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
