It is in Milan, Sunday evening, that the France team finishes the group stage of the League of Nations. Already qualified for the quarter-finals, thanks to their sad draw conceded Thursday against Israel (0-0), the Blues can still finish first, but on one condition: they must beat Italy, which has a three-point lead in the ranking, with at least two goals difference. Not easy.
An issue that Didier Deschamps does not seem to be too concerned about. The coach actually announced that he would rotate against the Nazionale. “I will make changes because I need to see the players get playing time,”
he declared on Saturday at a press conference. According to
The Team and RMC Sport, this rotation will concern seven players.
Which captain for the Blues against Italy?
Compared to the eleven aligned three days earlier at the Stade de France, only Mike Maignan, Jules Koundé, Ibrahima Konaté and Michael Olise should retain their starting place. This turnover would then benefit William Saliba and Lucas Digne in defense, Manu Koné and Adrien Rabiot in the middle, Christopher Nkunku, Kingsley Coman and Marcus Thuram in attack.
A new team which involves another novelty. In the absence of Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouameni, it was N’Golo Kanté who inherited the armband against the Israelis, but since he will not start the match at San Siro, the Tricolores will have another captain. A few hours before kick-off, it was Ibrahima Konaté who would step aside to take on this role.
Italy-France, the probable lineups
Italy: Donnarumma (cap) – Cambiaso, Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Bastoni, Di Marco – Frattesi, Locatelli, Tonali – Barella, Retegui (or Kean) – Coach: Luciano Spalletti.
France: Maignan – Koundé, Konaté (cap), Saliba, Digne – Koné, Rabiot – Olise, Nkunku, Coman – M. Thuram – Coach: Didier Deschamps.
