Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham have both been named in Real Madrid’s travelling squad to play Manchester City in their Champions League round-of-16 second leg game on Tuesday.
Mbappé has been recovering from a sprain in his left knee, and last featured for Madrid in their 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Osasuna on Feb. 21.
While coach Álvaro Arbeloa had said he expected star forward Mbappé — who has 13 Champions League goals this season — to travel to Manchester, the surprise inclusion of Bellingham comes ahead of schedule.
ESPN had reported that the midfielder was not expected to return until April, while England coach Thomas Tuchel had expressed doubts about Bellingham’s chances of featuring for his country during the international break later this month.
Bellingham hasn’t played a match since Feb. 1 because of a muscle injury, and while Arbeloa has decided to include him in the squad, a source told ESPN that he is unlikely to feature against City.
Both players were absent for Madrid’s 4-1 LaLiga win over Elche on Saturday, where Arbeloa was forced to call upon a number of academy players to cope with the team’s injury crisis.
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“[On Sunday] we’ll train at Valdebebas, we’ll try Mbappé out, and we’ll see how he feels,” Arbeloa said after that game. “I hope he’ll be available. If he can be in Manchester it will be great news.”
Left back Álvaro Carreras also returned to the squad to play City.
Mbappé, Bellingham and Carreras all missed Madrid’s comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Premier League side in last week’s first leg at the Bernabéu, as Federico Valverde scored a hat trick.
