France – Poland – The notes of the Blues: Barcola deserves to be seen again, Upamecano the big blunder

He lays down well (6th) on one of his rare interventions but will long regret not having stayed on his line long enough on the penalty saved. Frustrating.

• In short… He’s going to sleep very badly tonight.

In a match where France dominates so much, its lack of quality on crosses is obvious. The Barcelona player only found the target once for Giroud (86th). His waste also explains why the Blues never found an opening in the game. Behind, he sometimes reacted with a delay but held off his direct opponent well.

• In short… Below his start to the Euro.

He is late against Swiderski and causes a penalty which costs the Blues first place. Too bad because his match was very dense so far with a lot of commitment and authority against Lewandowski.

• In short… A big mistake and two points gone.

He lets go of the marking on Lewandowski (33rd) but that is his only mistake in 90 very tough minutes. The Londoner makes up for a poorly started situation with a tackle from the last defender (6th), saves the country again thanks to a perfect placement (23rd) and overall gives off a pretty crazy ease. He is clearly gaining momentum.

• In short… Arsenal’s Saliba.

When he has a real attacker in front of him, it changes everything. Released, the Milanese never stopped taking his lane. He could have opened the scoring (12th) but came up against, like so many others, an excellent Skorupski (12th). The combinations with Barcola and Mbappé served his speed qualities. He lacked precision. Hernandez generally held his lane and made an important comeback in front of Szymanski.

• In short… Let it go.

He generally did the job in front of the defense and in the fight with a lot of balls recovered. But he also lost two in the center and offered two big chances to the Poles (17th, 54th). If he started the match with some interesting reversals, the Madrilenian did not drive the nail in and was content, thereafter, with short restarts. How frustrating not to see him extend the game more…

• In short… Still a little short.

Replaced by Youssouf Fofana (82nd).

Less visible in recovery since he played high up the field, he was the custodian of the game for a long time. But it is very difficult to ask him for surgical precision in this register, like his completely missed opening for Barcola (14th). The fact remains that he has real percussion qualities (19th) and could have opened the scoring to Dembélé (19th). Lots of activity even if he seemed to falter after the break.

• In short… Sometimes against the grain.

Replaced by Antoine Griezmann (61st) who only made bad choices.

Did he pay for the sequence of matches after his return from injury? Maybe. He was less bold in his projections and a little more clumsy in his transmissions. On the other hand, there remains a valuable buoy in the recovery (31st).

Replaced by Eduardo Camavinga (61st)

A high-level second period where he caused a penalty just by his acceleration. Legs of fire, lots of meters gained, two very good crosses for Hernandez (12th) and Mbappé (78th) who just had to finish. He also missed, in the first period: a duel against Skorupski (49th) and crosses in spades. But this time, the Parisian finally weighed on the match even if he was not always constant.

Replaced by Randal Kolo Muani (86th).

For his first start, he rather passed the test. His changes of tempo hurt Frankowski a lot and allowed him to get two clear chances all by himself like a big boy. Often in the center, he served as an effective relay on two big opportunities for the Blues. His understanding with Mbappé is an argument in his favor and the left side finally looked like something. But he lacks experience and size to play in the center. Too light to weigh.

• In short… An interesting option.

Replaced by Olivier Giroud (61st).

He didn’t hide. And if he converted his penalty and scored the first goal of his career at the Euro, he also missed three duels, two from a tight angle, another from a soft shot. But his understanding with Barcola and Hernandez completely brought the left side out of the coma. And his one-touch deviations often created lags.

• In short… At least he has legs.