The roaring, spectacular and victorious fifty. If Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Digne were looking for a way to mark their fiftieth selection for Blue on Sunday evening at San Siro, they couldn't do much better. In a Milanese venue having to reveal the identity of the first of this group 2 of the League of Nations, the two left-handers played skillfully on goal and allowed the French team to establish itself as (new) leader on the lawn where she won the event against Spain in 2021.
First in the group on goal difference, the tricolors will have the advantage of receiving the return during the quarter-final of the event next March and it is up to an improbable duo of returnees, the pair Digne – Rabiot, that they must.
The Sunday evening film, sometimes so poor in action, the two friends on the left made it together a real delight with suspense and twists and turns. One year, almost to the day, after the last goal scored from a corner by the France team, Adrien Rabiot woke it up in this exercise where its effectiveness had fallen asleep. He, who had already hit the mark like this on November 18, 2023 against Gibraltar (14-0), returned to his smiling past by perfectly uncrossing his head on a serve from Lucas Digne. In passing, he became the first Marseillais since a certain Jean-Pierre Papin, on March 25, 1992 against Belgium (3-3), to score a double for the Blues.
Among the tricolors most whistled by the stands when the teams announced, Rabiot, formerly of a Juventus hated in Milan, could not, we said in the 3rd minute, better air-condition an enclosure seized by the winter temperature . This was without counting on a gala Lucas Digne (31 years old) who, this Sunday, had probably sharpened his foot like a blade.
Orphan of Antoine Griezmann, who shared with him the status of oldest of the Blue house, the last of the Mohicans, present since 2014, borrowed the technique on this precise free kick from the left which he sent into the top corner ( 33rd).
Picky, UEFA will not grant him his first goal in the selection, his shot having rebounded on the back of Vicario, the transalpine goalkeeper before crossing the line. “Even if no one criticizes me about the fact that I haven't scored yet, it wouldn't hurt to give myself a little shot,” Digne quipped Friday at Clairefontaine at a press conference. His dream of scoring his first goal will therefore be postponed. Unable to open his counter, the Aston Villa defender will therefore have consoled himself by increasing his quota of assists (6).
As in a remake of the opener, it was this time from a free kick that he reformed his duo with Adrien Rabiot. A cross from the left, once again perfect, and an uncrossed and floating headbutt from Marseillais in fact left the Italian defense without reaction (65th). Enough, if necessary, to remind the coach that Digne is a valuable soldier on this left flank which is running out of steam in recent months and that his association with a Rabiot who is still short of competition and rhythm can be renewed next March .
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