Main events
14 min Roberto Mancini is of course back as Italy manager, but this time he is without his terrifying twin, Gianluca Vialli. If you haven’t seen it, I would urge you to watch the documentary about Sampdoria’s fairytale Scudetto in 1990-91. Spoiler: When Mancini and Vialli discuss their friendship, it will rain in your face.
12 min France picked up where they left off before this chance. But now they know that Italy can hurt them if it wasn’t like that before.
9 min: Big chance for Italy!
Frattesi smashes a pass to Sebastiano Esposito on the right. He pushes the ball towards Kayode, whose first-time cross reaches Keane’s far post six yards. He takes a left-footed shot too close to Maignan, who runs desperately to miss the goal line.
It was the first time Italy broke through the French press and it should have led to a goal.
7 min Watch 3 minutes.
5 min A loose ball across the Italian defense is stolen by Olise on the right. He runs away from Calafiori but then slips and the ball is out of play.
3 min A strong start from France, who barely allowed Italy a shot.
1 min Look carefully! As we watch, France starts from left to right.
Captains Ousmane Dembele and Gianluigi Donnarumma, Teammates in Paris for three seasons, shake hands halfway. It’s almost time for action.
There is a great reception for Zinedine ZidaneWho ruled France for the first time at home. He is dressed in all black, like the more elusive Martin Blank. As a great commentator once said, not a flutter.
“It’s interesting how he comes across in front of the microphoneI watched and listened to Zinedine Zidane’s press conference before the game (now in different places, for example here),” begins Charles Antaki. “The man has so much presence, although he barely speaks in a shy whisper: he barely moves his head or body, and when he looks at the questioner, it is partly angry – but he hurts. He’ll laugh a little now and then. The commander of a particularly tough Foreign Legion outpost decides the fate of a raw but promising recruit. Perhaps this brings out the best in Olises and Dembélés; however, the results show that it works.”
Nice to put. Imagine how tall you’ll feel after receiving a “good job” from Zidane.
“Is Marco Materazzi home?” Peter Oh asks. “Given the predominance of gestures in today’s world, a symbolic handshake to bury the head, I mean, an ax would be appropriate.”
Have you checked the inferno temperature recently?
Jonathan Wilson
Even Zinedine Zidane looked unrecognizable during the game. As a manager, the sense of distance only grew. He won three Champions Leagues with Real Madrid, never giving up on what the idea of football looked like.
Zidane is one of five managers to have won the Champions League three or more times, alongside Bob Paisley, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique and behind only Carlo Ancelotti. He is the only manager to have won three Champions Leagues in a row and yet few would consider him one of the game’s elite coaches. In this game, he became a La Liga champion.
Team news
Michael OliseHe starts the attack for France, coming off the bench to score the winner against Belgium on Monday. This is one of six changes made by Zinedine Zidane. Ousmane Dembele, Ryan Cherky, Adrien Truffert, Dayot Upamekanhe and Adrien Rabiot An all-rounder, Dembele as captain in the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe.
Roberto Mancini makes two changes to the Italy squad that won 4-1 in Turkey. Riccardo Calafiori and Moise Kean As for Matteo Ruggeri and the injured Giacomo Raspadori.
France (4-3-3) Maignan; Kalulu, Jacquet, Upamecano, Truffert; Cherki, Da Cunha, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue.
Subs: Restes, Butez, Kounde, Camavinga, Kone, Barcola, Diouf, Yoro, Lacroix, Akliouche, Lepaul.
Italy (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Kayode, Scalvini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Frattesi, Tonali, Fagioli; Kean, P Esposito, S Esposito.
Substitutes: Carnesecchi, Vicario, Ruggeri, Ricci, Scamakka, Zoma, Dumbia, Maldini, Barella, Vergara, Di Lorenzo, Mancini.
Judge Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain).
Preamble
G’day and welcome to minute-by-minute live coverage of the Nations League match between France and Italy at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
New France coach Zinedine Zidane has had a good start: two away games. Two 1-0 wins against Belgium and Turkey. This is his first home game as France coach and his first against Italy since July 9, 2006. Don’t play stupid games; you know exactly what happened that night.
Italy’s Nations League campaign got off to a poor start with a 2-0 defeat at home to Belgium, but they bounced back with a 4-1 win in Turkey on Tuesday. Roberto Mancini, who started coaching for the second time, has also been in the news for other reasons.
We’re only a third of the way through to Nations League Group A1, but right now it feels like a shootout between Belgium and Italy for the second quarter-final. Points from France could make all the difference, if any.
Get started 19:45 BST.
The story so far
First match day
Italy 0-2 Belgium
Turkey 0-1 France
Second game day
Belgium 0-1 France
Turkey 1-4 Italy