France-Israel, it was zero

Without much surprise, this France-Israel disputed in a three-quarters empty Stade de France ended in an absolutely sad 0-0. The only sporting lesson: the Blues are qualified for the quarter-finals of the Nations League.

It therefore took place, this France-Israel at the Stade de France. And it’s an evening that we will quickly forget. This meeting, with a limited sporting stake, and surrounded by an explosive geopolitical context, took place without major incident, even if it should be noted that the start of a fight, in the first minutes of the match, with Israeli supporters.

For the rest, the show was about the atmosphere, in a Stade de France that was three-quarters empty (it is by far the worst crowd in history at the Stade de France, despite the efforts of the Irrésistible Français, courageous Without Kylian Mbappé, the Tricolores dominated this meeting (24 shots to 3), but they were too uninspired in front of goal, or at least not precise enough to beat Daniel Peretz, the third goalkeeper of Bayern Munich.

Koundé angry

After rare opportunities in the first period, for N’Golo Kanté (21st) or the Olise-Kolo Muani-Barcola trio (41st), the Blues slightly raised the tone during the second act, notably with long-range strikes from Eduardo Camavinga (54th, 65th, 67th). Aligned as playmaker in a 4-2-3-1, Warren Zaire-Emery failed to score on a nice delivery from Kolo Muani (76th), and the Blues had big match points in time additional by two players who entered during the match, Marcus Thuram (90th + 3) and Christophe Nkunku (90th + 6).

In the end, on an individual level, it is difficult to name a player who would have done well. And on a collective level, we will simply remember the assured qualification for the quarter-finals, even if this draw result and the victory of the Italy in Belgium (0-1) complicates the quest for first place. We will have to win on Sunday in Italy, overturning the particular goal average (3-1 defeat) in the first leg. And for everything else, we won’t go into detail.

At the microphone of TF1, Jules Koundé expressed his feelings.

“The frustration, the anger, we didn’t have a good match at all even though we had chances,” confided the Blues defender. The qualification? We will say that this is the only positive point of this evening. Our goal will be to do much better in Italy, and it will be necessary, because it is a team with more quality. We will have to put more intensity. »