It’s a duo who knows each other well. At the end of the 2000s, Bixente Lizarazu and Grégoire Margotton were associated for the first time with comments on Canal+. Their paths separated in 2009 when the consultant left the encrypted channel to join TF1. On the front page, the former left-back initially covered the Champions League before collaborating with Christian Jean-Pierre for the French team’s matches. In 2016, Bixente Lizarazu found Grégoire Margotton when the latter joined TF1 from Canal+ to replace Christian Jean-Pierre. Since then, the two men have formed an accomplice duo who have become inseparable on the front page.
During a press conference organized by TF1 last April in order to present the channel’s system for Euro 2024, Bixente Lizarazu said more with 7 Days TV on the close relationship he shares with Grégoire Margotton: “From the start, it’s been fluid in our way of working together, in our way of commenting together. We don’t step on each other’s toes. We don’t need to jostle to take up a little more space. We are each in our place. It’s yours, mine. We have fun working together, preparing matches together. We laugh.“
Bixente Lizarazu, however, had to insist to his comrade to change his habits: “We also have fun experiencing the before and after matches. After a match, for me, it is very important, I insist, we will eat together. At first, he struggled with it. Me, I want the human experience, that we know each other well. It’s something he appreciates now, because he tended to come home straight away and go to bed like the chickens! I’m the one who takes care of the restaurants after the matches!“
“There is also great confidence,” continues Bixente Lizarazu. “There is a framework with Grégoire which is very clear, and I like it when the framework is very clear. It’s easy to intervene in this context. Everyone does their part. It complements each other and never steps on top of each other.” With Euro 2024 in Germany, Grégoire Margotton and Bixente Lizarazu will comment on TF1 their fifth major competition together (excluding the Nations League), after following the Blues during Euro 2016, the 2018 World Cup, Euro 2021 and the 2022 World Cup.
