Sevilla vs. Real Madrid: Alvaro Arbeloa addresses Kylian Mbappe fall-out ahead of La Liga contest

Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa has insisted that there is no issue between himself and Kylian Mbappe, with the striker expected to start Sunday's La Liga clash with Sevilla.

After being left out of the starting team against Real Oviedo on Thursday night, Mbappe claimed that he was now the "fourth-choice forward" at Bernabeu, but Arbeloa insisted in his post-match press conference that was not the case.

Mbappe's decision to go on holiday to Sardinia during his recovery process from a recent hamstring injury was not well-received by the club's supporters, while the Frenchman's relationship with his teammates is said to be strained.

However, Arbeloa has played down talk of any wider issue, and the expectation is that the club's leading goalscorer this season with 41 will be in the XI against Sevilla on Sunday.

“Right now, just as I was coming up, I saw him and already told him to stay calm, that I’d handle it. I understand that many of these things might seem like news," Arbeloa told reporters.

Mbappe claimed he is Real Madrid's "fourth-choice forward" after win over Real Oviedo

"Everything he said in the mixed zone was something he had already spoken to me about beforehand. I approach it much more naturally because, as I always tell my players, I’ve been there and I know what they feel in any situation.

"I know what it’s like to play every day, I know what it’s like to play less, and I know what it’s like not to play at all. I completely understand how they feel when they don’t play. I know he wasn’t happy the other day, and I like that.

"I wouldn’t understand if Kylian Mbappe didn’t want to play with his team, even in a situation like this. For me, it’s something far more normal than what has been made of it.

"In the situation he was in, rightly or wrongly, I thought it was best for him to play a bit in the second half to be ready to play on Sunday. If there hadn’t been that game on Sunday, the situation would have been entirely different, but that’s all.

"I see everything that has happened these days as very normal, and my relationship with Mbappe remains the same."

Mbappe is set to start Real Madrid's clash with Sevilla

When asked whether he was concerned that private conversations have become public, Arbeloa said: "No, not at all. Whenever I talk to the players, I think about what I say - not that it might come out - but that I genuinely mean it, and I’m not afraid of them commenting or expressing any of the conversations we’ve had.

"When they speak to me in private, I like to keep it private. I understand, and it neither bothers nor hurts me that they might make a conversation they had with me public. I spoke to him before the game, and what I explained to him is what he explained to you. There’s no bigger issue."

Real Madrid will end the 2025-26 campaign without a major trophy, having fallen short in the Champions League, La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.