After the Kylian Mbappé affair, Vinicius Jr, injured in the neck, must now decline his call-up to the selection. This is Real Madrid’s specialty.
There are a lot of fantasies about Real Madrid. In addition to often being accused of benefiting from favorable treatment from referees, the Spanish club has the reputation of being so powerful that it manages to bend the selections during international breaks.
We see it with the Kylian Mbappé soap opera, which Didier Deschamps chose to preserve by not calling him up to the France team, while he continues to play with Real Madrid. The message is therefore that the Merengues’ Liga match against Villarreal on Saturday evening is more important than the Blues’ two Nations League matches against Israel and Belgium.
After Mbappé, Vinicius…
This is a talking point, especially since Real Madrid is accustomed to these small injuries which cause their players to miss international matches. This week, L’Equipe recalled that the White House had pushed hard for Ferland Mendy to miss the September gathering with the Blues. Initially called up by Deschamps, the former Lyonnais withdrew due to an injury to his right tibia. He quickly recovered, since he started in Real’s two matches after the international break.
However, France is not the only one affected. This Sunday, it was Vinicius Jr who withdrew from Brazil’s next two, against Chile and Peru, in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The Brazilian, who is replaced in the Seleçao by Andreas Pereira (Fulham), was injured on Saturday evening against Villarreal and suffers from neck pain. Unsurprisingly, the evil tongues are convinced that the favorite for the next Ballon d’Or will very quickly get back on his feet after the international break.
