Real Madrid handed major Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham injury boosts ahead of Man City showdown | OneFootball

Star pair could return in Champions League on Tuesday

Real Madrid have been handed a huge boost after Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both included in their squad for the Champions League last 16 second leg against Manchester City.

The pair sat out the 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu with injury, with Mbappe recovering from a left knee issue and Bellingham on the comeback trail of a hamstring problem.

However, the two could feature at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, where Real are in the driving seat of their last 16 tie.

For Real and Alvaro Arbeloa, they travel to Manchester strengthened by Mbappe and Bellingham’s returns, as well as left-back Alvaro Carreras, who missed the first game with a calf problem.

There is one piece of bad news for Los Blancos, with Ferland Mendy, who impressed at left-back at the Bernabeu last week, out with a hamstring strain.

Carreras, the former Manchester United defender, has sat out Madrid’s last three games but he could return to action here.

Mbappe has missed the last five games with his knee injury, while Bellingham has been sidelined for longer, absent for the past nine matches.

The news of Bellingham’s return will be welcome for England fans, with the next international break on the horizon.

Thomas Tuchel is set to name his squad on Friday for the Three Lions’ friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder was left out of Tuchel’s cohort in October having played just once since his shoulder operation following the Club World Cup.

He was reinstated into the group in England’s latest squad back in November.