Mbappe could miss Champions League QF
PARIS, July 28, (AP): Kylian Mbappe could miss Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta after being ruled out for around three weeks to recover from an ankle ligament injury.
The diagnosis came two and a half weeks before PSG are due to face Atalanta in Lisbon on Aug 12 when the competition resumes after its pandemic-enforced break.
Mbappe was hurt on Friday in the second half of PSG’s 1-0 win over Saint-Etienne in the French Cup final.
“The imaging workup performed today confirms a sprained ankle with external ligament injury,” PSG said in a statement. “Following this trauma, the recovery time is estimated at around 3 weeks.”
The 21-year-old Mbappe has 30 goals in 34 appearances this season. qqq Juventus forward Paulo Dybala’s injury is less serious than first believed and he could be ready for next week’s Champions League match against Lyon.
Dybala pulled up with an apparent left thigh issue and had to be replaced in the first half of Sunday’s 2-0 win over Sampdoria, a result which secured the Turin club’s record-extending ninth straight Serie A title.
On Monday, Juventus said tests “revealed an elongation of the rectus femoral muscle of the left thigh.
“His condition will be evaluated day by day,” added Juventus, which did not say how long Dybala will be out. Recovery time from similar injuries is about 10 days. Juventus play Lyon in the second leg of the Round of 16 on Aug 7. They need to overturn a 1-0 loss from February to advance to the quarter-finals in Lisbon.
In this Nov 30, 2018 file photo, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge arrives for the annual general meeting of FC Bayern Munich soccer club in Munich,
Germany. (AP)
“I believe, still optimistic that Financial Fair Play done in a different way could be very helpful to come back on a bit more rational basis,” Rummenigge said. “Because I believe that is a request from our supporters and we should listen to them as well.”
UEFA’s FFP program requires clubs which qualify for European competitions to approach breaking even on their spending on transfers and wages against commercial income. Club owners are allowed unlimited spending on stadium projects and youth training, but not to bail out debts.
Rummenigge said break-even rules “maybe should be considered much more in future than we did ... in the past, but we have to modify Financial Fair Play because in the past 10 years, football changed dramatically in the financial behavior and so we have to find different tools.”
Rummenigge is seeking a change of heart from France Football, which canceled the Ballon d’Or due to the pandemic. The player of the year award has been given out every year since Stanley Matthews won the first one in 1956.
Rummenigge believes Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski would have been a strong contender to win for the first time after scoring 34 goals in the Bundesliga, six in the German Cup and 11 in the Champions League, where Bayern resumes next month with a 3-0 last16 lead over Chelsea.