Madrid Coach Alonso Hoping Mbappé Is 'Back Soon' At CWC

Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso still can't say whether Kylian Mbappé will be available to play in the next round of the Club World Cup after missing all three group games.

- Associated Press

Mbappé was hospitalized last week with acute gastroenteritis and has not played a minute of the tournament so far.

Despite being back in training, he was not even named as a substitute for Thursday's 3-0 win against RB Salzburg.

"I don't want to be optimistic and get ahead of myself, but we need him because he's a top player, one of the best in the world. We hope he's back soon," Alonso said when asked about Mbappé's availability for the round of 16 game against Juventus on Tuesday.