Real Madrid will be without the services of Kylian Mbappe for the second leg of their Champions League playoff tie against Benfica to be played later tonight. Mbappe is struggling with a knee injury and has been not named in the Madrid's squad for the crucial game.
Madrid will head into the match with only a slender advantage. A Vinicius Junior goal helped Real clinch the reverse fixture last week. Mbappe's absence will be a blow to Real, who be low on confidence following a 2-1 defeat to Osasuna in La Liga over the weekend.
Mbappe has scored 38 goals this season with 23 in La Liga and 13 in UCL. Real will have to win the tie to qualify for the last-16 stage of the competition.
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Los Blancos currently are second in La Liga behind arch rivals Barcelona.
This is not the first time this season that a knee injury has forced Mbappe to miss matches. The forward suffered an issue in his left knee ahead of Christmas. It forced him to miss Real's Champions League game with Manchester City and in January he was able to play just a few minutes of the Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia.
The first leg against Benfica was marred by racism allegations against Gianluca Prestianni. The Argentina winger was accused by both Vinicius and Mbappe of using racially charged language towards the Brazillian forward. Prestianni has not travelled to Madrid for the second leg and the incident is being investigated by UEFA.
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