CLUB doctors at Real Madrid have been left with egg on their faces after it emerged that star striker Kylian Mbappe played through injury for an entire month following an embarrassing medical blunder.
The Frenchman reportedly notified medical staff of discomfort in his left knee in early December but the issue went undiagnosed until the new year after an MRI scan was performed on the wrong leg, according to The Athletic.
The first signs of a problem came after the 27-year-old suffered a blow to his knee on December 7 during a 2-0 home La Liga defeat to Celta Vigo.
Mbappe then continued to play for Los Blancos throughout December after the botched scan appeared to show that nothing was untoward.
The forward, who joined Real from French giants PSG in the summer of 2024, was an unused substitute for the next game at home to Manchester City, but then played the full 90 minutes of the side’s three remaining games of 2025.
When Mbappe returned to training after the Christmas break on December 30, he was seen in discomfort and underwent a fresh scan which identified a partial posterior knee ligament tear in his left leg.
“After the test carried out today on our player Kylian Mbappe by the Real Madrid Medical Service, he has been diagnosed with a sprain in his left knee,” a club statement seeking to downplay the issue said at the time.
Following that, the French national team captain stayed at home whilst Real travelled to Saudi Arabia to compete in the Supercopa de España.
He then made his return to action with a substitution appearance in El Clasico against Barcelona on January 11.
The former Monaco ace made his latest return to injury in last Tuesday’s Champions League victory at Manchester City, where Real fans sought to taunt the locals with chants of ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ in Manchester city centre.
Despite his injury layoff, Mbappe has continued to impress this season with 23 goals in 24 league outings.
He also tops the Champions League goalscoring charts, netting 13 times so far this campaign.
He reportedly earns over €550,000 per week at Real.
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