Where to follow the match between Ukraine and France?
The international break is intense for the Blues.
Three days after making their comeback in France, at the Stade de la Meinau in Strasbourg, against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1), Didier Deschamps' men meet at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev to face Ukraine this Saturday night.
The kick-off is scheduled for 8:45 pm The meeting will be broadcast again on
M6
.
It will also be to follow live on
Le Figaro
through the comments of Teddy Vadeevaloo.
The players of the France team will not have much time to rest after the match as they will face Finland next Tuesday at Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
To discover
The 2022 World Cup qualifying calendar
Qualifying rankings for the 2022 World Cup
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Halfway through the qualification campaign, where are the Blues in view of the 2022 World Cup?
This Saturday, the French team is entering the second part of its qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup. After four games, it prances at the top of Group D with 8 points on the clock - two wins and two draws. Ahead of their future opponent by four units, the Habs are on track to join Qatar in a little over a year and thus have the opportunity to defend their title acquired in Russia in 2018. However, they still have to validate their ticket. Even if they still have to be wary of Finland, Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which all have fewer matches, this confrontation against Ukraine can already allow them to take a big step towards qualification. In case of victory,the Blues would have a 7-point lead over their main competitor three days from the end of the playoffs. On the other hand, a defeat would restart the race for first place and could give them a very tense end of the qualifying campaign. Didier Deschamps and his men, who do not bathe in confidence in view of their Euro 2020 and their last outing, will have to get their heads above water this Saturday to avoid a possible disappointment and consider dams in a few months.will thus have to get out of the water this Saturday to avoid a possible disappointment and consider dams in a few months.will thus have to get out of the water this Saturday to avoid a possible disappointment and consider dams in a few months.
Read alsoGriezmann-Mbappé-Benzema: there is still (a lot) of work
Who are the players called to compensate for the absences from the Blues?
Didier Deschamps had to compose his list of twenty-three players according to those absent, due to injury or lack of playing time, such as Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Ferland Mendy, Adrien Rabiot or even Ousmane Dembélé. Since the disclosure of his selection, the 52-year-old French technician has been faced with packages, forcing him to bring in new players along the way. To compensate for the absence of Dayot Upamecano, hamstring injury against Hertha Berlin, the coach of the France team recalled Clément Lenglet, a regular at Clairefontaine. In midfield, Mattéo Guendouzi and Adrien Rabiot came to compensate for the losses of Corentin Tolisso and N'Golo Kanté. The neo-Marseillais, author of a good start to the season, finds the Blues after two summons at the end of 2019,without knowing any first selection. Regarding the Juventus Turin player, Didier Deschamps explained his return: “I had exchanged with him before the list last Thursday, he had not played a minute for 15 days, 3 weeks. He was not expected to play this weekend [against Empoli, 0-1, note]. He played for an hour on Sunday without worry. If I had known and he too, he would have been on the initial list, ”he told a press conference. Finally, Nordi Mukiele was called for the first time to replace Jules Koundé, unavailable following his exclusion against Bosnia-Herzegovina. On the other hand, no player has been summoned for the time being to replace Kylian Mbappé who left the gathering of the Blues, due to a calf injury.
To read also Injured calf, Mbappé leaves the Blues and will miss the next two matches
Which team will Didier Deschamps line up?
With the package from Kylian Mbappé, the Blues could return to 4-4-2 (or 4-2-3-1), unless Didier Deschamps decides to install again the 4-3-3 seen against the Bosnia Wednesday (1-1). In front of Hugo Lloris, the defense should be made up of Léo Dubois on the right (Jules Koundé is suspended), Lucas Digne on the left and a hinge Raphaël Varane Presnel Kimpembe or Clément Lenglet. In the middle, Paul Pogba is essential, Aurélien Tchouaméni, interesting in Strasbourg, should be entitled to a first tenure. Called Thursday, Adrien Rabiot has chances to start, thanks to his complete profile. In attack, Kingsley Coman, incisive Wednesday when he came into play, has a card to play. If Antoine Griezmann will be there, uncertainty remains on the state of freshness of Karim Benzema,who could give way to Anthony Martial in view of the sequence of meetings.
Where is Ukraine at?
She's an unknown. Ukraine is coming out of a rather mixed Euro 2020. Andriy Shevchenko's selection tried to produce play - and did so remarkably in some streaks - but his results fell short of his expectations. His two victories in five matches played throughout the competition were won in pain: a complicated 2-1 success obtained against North Macedonia in the group stage and a qualification (1-2) snatched against Sweden in the round of 16 in extra time in extra time. Above all, his elimination in the quarter-finals against England with a clear score (0-4) has apparently been experienced as a great disappointment in Ukraine. The former AC Milan striker's contract ended this summer, to everyone's surprise.“It was hard work proving that we can play modern football. I thank the president of the federation, each player and the supporters. Together, we have succeeded in showing competitive, productive and attractive football, ”he posted on his social networks at the beginning of August. He was replaced by Oleksandr Petrakov, known in particular for having led Ukraine to the coronation at the U20 World Cup in 2019. The new coach has the difficult task of qualifying his team for the next World Cup. Unless there is a victory this Saturday against France, his salvation should go through the dams. Since the start of the playoffs, the Ukrainian selection has not lost any match. But she didn't win any. It temporarily occupies second place in group D, four points behind France. For its premiere,Oleksandr Petrakov could not do better than his predecessor in this qualifying campaign by conceding a draw in Kazakhstan (2-2). From now on, he must hope to be able to do as well as Andriy Shevchenko last March, with whom Ukraine came to win a point at the Stade de France.
SEE ALSO
- Andriy Shevchenko's best moments at AC Milan
