Key events
There’s a spectacular welcome for Zinedine Zidane, who is managing France at home for the first time. He’s dressed all in black, like a more inscrutable Martin Blank. As a great commentator once said, not a flicker.
“Curious as to how he comes across in front of a microphone, I had a look and a listen to Zinedine Zidane’s press conference ahead of the game (now up in various places, eg here),” begins Charles Antaki. “What a presence the man has, even though he seems to barely speak above a shy whisper: he hardly moves his head or body, and when he looks at the questioner it’s in part menacing and indulgent – but he dominates. Now and then he’ll give a little chuckle. The commander of a particularly tough Foreign Legion outpost deciding on the fate of a raw but promising recruit. Maybe it’s this that brings out the best in the Olises and Dembélés of the squad; in any case, results suggest that it’s working.”
Beautifully put. Imagine how tall you would feel after receiving a “well done” from Zidane.
“Is Marco Materazzi in the house?” asks Peter Oh. “Given the primacy of gestures in today’s world, a symbolic handshake to bury the headbutt, I mean hatchet would be appropriate.”
Have you checked hell’s temperature recently?
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Jonathan Wilson
Even in his playing days, Zinedine Zidane seemed unknowable. As a manager, the sense of distance has only grown. He won three Champions Leagues with Real Madrid without ever giving a sense of what his idea of football looked like.
Zidane is one of five coaches to have won the Champions League on three or more occasions, ranking alongside Bob Paisley, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique and behind only Carlo Ancelotti. He is the only manager to win three successive Champions Leagues and yet few would consider him one of the game’s elite coaches. In that spell he won one La Liga title.
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Michael Olise, who came off the bench to score the winner against Belgium on Monday, starts in attack for France. That’s one of six changes made by Zinedine Zidane. Ousmane Dembele, Rayan Cherki, Adrien Truffert, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot all come into the side, Dembele as captain in the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe.
Roberto Mancini makes two changes to the Italy side that won 4-1 in Turkey. Riccardo Calafiori and Moise Kean come in 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.
Subs: Carnesecchi, Vicario, Ruggeri, Ricci, Scamacca, Zoma, Doumbia, Maldini, Barella, Vergara, Di Lorenzo, Mancini.
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain).
Updated at 14.07 EDT
Preamble
G’day and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of the Nations League match between France and Italy at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
France’s new coach Zinedine Zidane has made a fine start: two away games. two 1-0 wins against Belgium and Turkey. This is his first home game as France manager, and his first meeting with Italy since 9 July 2006. Don’t play silly buggers; you know exactly what happened that night.
Italy’s Nations League campaign got off to a bad start with a 2-0 defeat at home to Belgium, but they romped to a 4-1 win in Turkey on Tuesday. Roberto Mancini, who is beginning his second spell in charge, has also been in the news for other reasons.
We’re only a third of the way through Nations League Group A1, but right now it feels like a shootout between Belgium and Italy for the second quarter-final place. Points taken off France, if there are any, could make all the difference.
Kick off 7.45pm BST.
ShareThe story so farMatchday one
Italy 0-2 Belgium
Turkey 0-1 France
Matchday two
Belgium 0-1 France
Turkey 1-4 Italy