France head coach Didier Deschamps has confirmed that Kylian Mbappe was not involved in Les Bleus' friendly loss to Germany on Tuesday due to a knee injury.
The Paris Saint-Germain attacker donned the captain's armband for his nation's Euro 2024 qualifying win over the Republic of Ireland on Friday, setting up Aurelien Tchouameni's opener in a 2-0 victory.
Mbappe's contribution helped France post five successive competitive wins with clean sheets for the first time ever, but Les Bleus' triumphant run came to an end against Rudi Voller's Germany in midweek.
The 24-year-old was left on the bench as France succumbed to strikes from Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane, while Antoine Griezmann's 89th-minute consolation came too late to spark a turnaround.
Deschamps unsurprisingly made several changes for the showdown with the Euro 2024 hosts, as Randal Kolo Muani partnered Griezmann in attack, while Jean-Clair Todibo, William Saliba, Kingsley Coman, Benjamin Pavard and Eduardo Camavinga were also introduced.
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Mbappe's failure to earn any minutes raised a few eyebrows, and Deschamps revealed after the game that the former Monaco man had felt some discomfort in his knee.
"Kylian had a problem with his patellar tendon which is bothering him. If he couldn't start, it wasn't to bring him in," L'Equipe quotes Deschamps as saying.
PSG have not published an official update on Mbappe's injury, but the attacker's latest issue is most inopportune for the French champions, who face a crucial period of fixtures within the next few weeks.
Les Parisiens return to action at home to an unbeaten Nice side on Friday night, before commencing their latest bid for Champions League glory at home to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening.
Luis Enrique's men then welcome Marseille to the Parc des Princes for the first Classique of the season on September 24, and a European sojourn to Newcastle United awaits on October 4.
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Mbappe has been welcomed back into Enrique's squad with open arms following his contract stand-off earlier in the summer, and he netted twice in a 4-1 win over Lyon before the international break.
The Frenchman already leads the way at the top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts with five goals from three appearances, one more than Monaco's Wissam Ben Yedder and Nantes' Mostafa Mohamed.
Mbappe was not the only attacking casualty of the international break for PSG, as Marco Asensio came off before half time in Spain's recent win over Georgia and did not make the squad to face Cyprus on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid man - who has two goals and an assist from his first three PSG games as a false nine - is understood to have picked up a muscular problem, which could rule him out for a number of weeks.
Lee Kang-in is also struggling with a muscular concern, so Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos could be set for more prominent roles in Enrique's setup in the coming weeks.
Ben Knapton
