Madrid, Oct. 11 -- Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso will be keeping his fingers crossed after the news that striker Kylian Mbappe is returning to the club ahead of time after aggravating an ankle injury while playing for France.

Mbappe scored the opening goal in France's 3-0 win at home to Azerbaijan on Friday night to take his country closer to assuring its place in next summer's World Cup finals.

However, he had to leave the pitch 10 minutes before the final whistle after receiving a couple of heavy challenges on his right ankle, which had already given him problems in Real Madrid's last game before the international break.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from United News of India....