Mbappé set to miss Champions League opener

Tuesday evening sees the return of UEFA’s (amended) Champions League, the pinnacle of club competition, and there are six intriguing games lined up.

Two of those, however, could have featured brothers playing for their respective teams simultaneously, causing some decision making for the family over which to attend or involved some split screen requirements, but this is now not going to be necessary.

Only Kylian Mbappé, not Ethan playing in UCL

At 3pm ET, both Kylian Mbappé (for Real Madrid against Stuttgart) and Ethan Mbappé (for Lille against Sporting Clube), should have been kicking off. As it turns out, though, only the Madrid Galáctico will be taking to the field, with the teenager not in the Lille squad.

It’s worth noting that Ethan has caught the eye in France. His Ligue 1 debut for Lille saw him come on in the 87th minute and by the 93rd he’d notched up his first assist. To date Mbappé junior has made eight appearances, five for PSG (also his brother’s club until this summer) and three for Lille. So, some questions have been raised about him being in promotional material.

After a prolonged bidding process, DAZN has officially secured the TV rights for Ligue 1 for the 2024-2029 period. To promote its acquisition, the British streaming platform has unveiled a promotional poster featuring several key figures from the French top flight, including 17-year-old Mbappé, who recently joined Lille after previously playing for PSG.

Alongside Mbappé on the poster are seasoned players such as Dante, Joao Neves, Steve Mandanda, and Alexandre Lacazette. As he does not play tonight, we’ll be watching carefully how his career progresses.