France were beaten by Germany in their last major test before Euro 2024

In Lyon, Didier Deschamps’ men were stunned by the more spirited Germans (0-2) on Saturday.

Despite the permanent departure of some of its executives in recent years, seeing it shine on all bases, we almost forgot that the French team was capable of missing out on a major event. Against Germany, Saturday 23 March, the Blues dominated, losing at home (2-0) at the Groupe Stadium, and they didn’t even manage to score. Banned, they were punished at the start of each period, each time guilty of rolling out the red carpet for their opponent.

After a completely reverent minute’s silence, the Blues took the term “friendly match” literally, in tribute to fallen German legends Franz Beckenbauer and Andreas Brehmann. Naturally, the Germans jumped at the chance to open the scoring after just 7 seconds of play, scoring the fastest goal conceded to a French team in its history. At kick-off, Julian Nagelsmann’s players made a simple combination.

Like the blues

Toni Kroos, back after a three-year absence from the selection (and brilliant) by pretending to play back, stimulated pressure from the French midfielders and then returned to serve Florian Wirtz behind them. Unattacked, the German prodigy had plenty of time to prepare his shot at the entrance to the area and crucify Bryce Samba over the crossbar. That’s what we call getting screwed.

After three months without playing together, Didier Deschamps’ men looked directionless. Perhaps even a bit of complacency in the face of an opponent who hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2018 interfered with their start to the match. The alarm clock must have gone off twenty minutes late. Time for Ousmane Dembélé to connect with some hooks and for Kylian Mbappé to show his speed. Failing to bring the blues back up to par, these solo numbers have the ability to rock a very dark, almost desperate stand.

But the lesson was not learned and the Blues were conceded again three minutes after returning from the locker room. Florian Wirtz’s pass over the defense found Jamal Musiala who had plenty of time to finish off Bryce Samba before dropping back and offering Kai Havertz (49th) a ready goal. On the same evening when the French team had to do without Antoine Griezmann for the first time since 2017, the national team was able to do poorly by relying on four creative midfielders (Wirtz, Musiala, Gundogan, Kroos).

Raise your head against Chile

Unlike the first period, where the blues existed for a quarter of an hour, the second period was largely tolerated. Tired of the spectacle put on by the incumbents, sections of the Parc OL demanded the entry of Olivier Giroud. Like the highly-anticipated Marcus Thuram, whom he replaced, the Milan striker could do nothing to brighten up this completely missed evening.

With three months to go before its Euros, Julian Nagelsmann’s team offers plenty of reassurance. Blues, on the other hand, cannot plead an accident. Having already been beaten by this opponent last fall, they played their last big test before the summer with a more than competitive team. Let’s hope that this first match in their new jersey doesn’t start a new, worrying dynamic and that this defeat serves as a warning so that this kind of disappointment doesn’t happen again at the Euros. On Tuesday, against Chile, the Blues will have a chance not to dwell on this bad note.