Kylian Mbappé returned to the Real Madrid squad after several weeks out, and then immediately joined his French teammates for a couple of friendlies in the United States against Brazil and Colombia. He reassured the press that he feels "100% recovered" and his knee is now fine. The player, dissatisfied with the medical staff in Real Madrid, went to Paris to ask for a second opinion with a knee specialist and took a rehab program without needing to undergo surgery.
Reportedly, Real Madrid's medical team made a "catastrophic mistake", one that endangered his career. "What could have been very serious is that, because of this misdiagnosis, he (could have) completely injured himself because he didn't stop playing immediately", said Daniel Riolo, French journalist from RMC Sport.
Riolo explains that Real Madrid's medical staff misdiagnosed Mbappé when the French player suffered an injury in December 2025, to the point that they examined his wrong knee. "What's being said in 'official circles' is that the blunder is absolutely enormous. They're saying they examined the wrong knee at Real Madrid".
Mbappé was told he could still play and he kept playing in the first months of 2026, but his pain got worse, and exposed himself to a much serious injury. When he consulted the doctor Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet in France, he realised what a poor job the doctors in Madrid had done.
"For Real Madrid, what happened is a total disgrace, and I think we avoided the worst for Mbappé", Riolo said. "This misdiagnosis could have been much more serious because it took Mbappé a while to find out what was wrong. He had other commitments, he even played a few matches without knowing exactly what was wrong. He could have wrecked his knee."
Real Madrid fired its medical staff because of the "worse than catastrophic" mistake with Mbappé
According to Riolo, Real Madrid fired their medical staff in January, and the blunder with Mbappé was a major trigger. "We were told it was because there were a lot of injuries at Real Madrid," said Riolo. "I can say that it's because the diagnosis of Mbappé's knee was so catastrophic, and certainly worse than catastrophic since it was an absolutely major error. And that's why they fired everyone, plus the string of injuries, but largely it was because of that."
Bear in mind this is only the word from a French journalist, but Daniel Riolo defends his reporting: "You think I'm talking nonsense? Real Madrid fired everyone. There you have it. (...) Do you realize the humiliation for a club like Real Madrid?"