(Dortmund) The return of Kylian Mbappé after his broken nose was not enough: still uninspired in front of the cages, the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Poland on Tuesday in Dortmund, for their last match of the group stage of Euro 2024.
The Blues, who scored their first goal of the competition on a penalty from Kylian Mbappé (55th), have still not scored in the game, after the narrow victory against Austria (1-0, c. s. c. Austrian) and the draw against the Netherlands (0-0).
Despite the clear French domination, this meeting against the already eliminated Poles did not allow Didier Deschamps’ players to break free offensively.
A black mask on his face, Mbappé, hit in the nose against Austria and who had not returned to the field against the Netherlands, for a long time clashed like his teammates with a great Lukasz Skorupski, intractable in the Polish cages.
It took a penalty for a gross foul on Dembélé for the future Real Madrid player to unlock his counter, taking – finally – by default Skorupski, beaten on the wrong foot (56th). In vain: Lewandowski, also from the penalty spot, brought the Poles back to equality (79th).
Second in Group D behind Austria, the French will have to be much more inspired in the round of 16, where they will face the second of a particularly indecisive Group E, with four teams all tied with 3 points before the last day (Belgium , Romania, Slovakia or Ukraine).
The Blues started this match well, creating many chances without managing to convert them.
A first strike from Théo Hernandez, after an overflow from Dembélé, failed to deceive Skorupski (11th); a few minutes later, Dembélé, served by a still hyperactive N’Golo Kanté, in turn failed to beat the Bologna goalkeeper (19th).
Mbappé himself struggled for a long time against Skorupski (42nd, 45th, 49th, 75th), when his attempts did not fail to find the target.
The scenario could even have taken a completely different turn at the break if Lewandoswki, isolated at the penalty spot, had been more precise with his head (34th), or if Maignan had not been attentive to the few Polish chances .
More incisive in the second period, the Blues were able to unlock their counter thanks to a foul on Dembélé, mowed down in the area by Polish defender Jakub Kiwior, offering Mbappé a penalty taken without trembling (56th).
Alas: around twenty minutes later, contact from Upamecano on Swiderski allowed Lewandowski to score in two stages from the penalty spot (79th), sending the Blues back to their doubts.
Austria created a surprise on Tuesday in Berlin by beating the Netherlands (3-2), despite two equalizers, and took first place in Group D ahead of France to advance to the round of 16 of the Euro 2024.
Thanks to the French team’s draw against Poland (1-1), the Austrians struck a major blow in Dortmund by stealing first place in Group D against all expectations ahead of Les Bleus (2nd) and the Netherlands (3rd), who qualified before this match.
This success and this first place, the least likely hypothesis before the match, were celebrated by the players and staff, all lined up at the foot of the stand filled with red and white supporters.
Lacking an attacking star in his squad led by captain Marko Arnautovic, Austrian coach Ralf Rangnick found his best scorer in Germany: the own goal, before relying on his striker Marcel Sabitzer (80th).
Before that, the Dutchman Donyell Malen deceived his own goalkeeper by cutting a cross from the left (6th), then Stefan De Vrij (59th) deflected a header from Romano Schmid into his goal. But the Austrian midfielder was credited with the goal.
In total, since the start of this edition, seven own goals have been scored (11 during Euro 2020).
Helped by the Oranje, the Austrians finished the match as they started the tournament: physical, present in the duels and carried forward.
And like against Poland (3-1 victory), they got their foot on the ball from the first minutes. They were also effective in front of goal, while the Oranje pressed little.
Trailing twice, the Dutch still managed to come back to the score thanks to their two players criticized until then.
But this will remain anecdotal, because it was not enough at the end of this last group match for group D, which completely launched into the second half.
Criticized for his talents in clubs, not very visible in selection, it was the young Xavi Simons, midfielder at Leipzig, who perfectly served Cody Gakpo after the break, who equalized with a beautiful curling shot (1-1, 47th).
Then it was Memphis Depay’s turn to silence the critics a little by coming back to score a second time (2-2, 75th) with a great sequence of chest control and right foot strike.
“This team absolutely needs him,” Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman confided at a press conference on Monday, often annoyed on his sidelines.
Leading Group D before this match, the Netherlands, already qualified, had to fight for first place. They ultimately finished third in the group.
