Kylian Mbappe has been admitted to hospital with acute gastroenteritis, his club Real Madrid have said.
In a statement released on Thursday, Real said: “Our player Kylian Mbappe has acute gastroenteritis and has been hospitalised for various tests and treatment.”
Gastroenteritis is an infection in the gut which can cause symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea.
The 26-year-old France skipper missed training on Tuesday with a fever and did not feature in Real’s 1-1 draw with Al Hilal on Wednesday.
Los Blancos boss Xabi Alonso said after the game that the forward had experienced “significant viral issues” and that he would be assessed before the next game.
Real take on Pachuca on Sunday, before rounding off Group H with a game against RB Salzburg next Friday.
Mbappe netted 43 goals in 56 games in his debut Real campaign, having joined the club on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
His understudy, 21-year-old Gonzalo Garcia, scored Real’s goal as the Spanish giants were held to a draw by four-time Asian Champions League winner Al Hilal in the Club World Cup.
Ruben Neves converted a penalty for Al Hilal to level proceedings, before Madrid’s Federico Valverde had a spot-kick saved in added time by Yassine Bounou.
“The second half was much better than the first,” Alonso said in his post-match news conference. “In the first half we lacked a lot of things, we didn’t have balance. We’ve talked about that.
“I liked the reaction. We were able to change our rhythm, have more control, and play more in the opposition half. It’s a process. We have to take the positives and look to improve.”
Alonso, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti after Madrid failed to claim any major silverware last season, continued: “I knew it would take time.
“There are things we have to change. We’ll have to correct them, and we’ll keep doing that. Everything takes time, we’ve had nine days, and some players have had just three training sessions.
“It’s demanding, we’re in a competition, but we want to learn, and what we want to do will take time.”