Haller, Nkunku, Maignan, Camavinga ... the French shine in the Champions League

It was a hat trick that was useless, but the French Christopher Nkunku burst the screen Wednesday night during the wide defeat of Leipzig on the lawn of Manchester City (3-6).

The former Parisian (23) kept his team afloat for a long part of the match thanks to two headed goals and a third from a cross strike from a tight angle.

This proved insufficient, but Nkunku is the only player of the German team to have climbed to the level of this meeting.

“Every mistake pays off in cash.

We made a lot of individual mistakes.

I scored three goals, but each time they scored just behind, explained Nkunku after the game.

We needed a little more concentration, because we know the quality of Manchester City ”.

"A special moment"

Another player born and trained in France performed on this first day of the Champions League. It is not Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) or Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), both on the substitutes' bench at kick-off, but Sébastien Haller. The Ajax Amsterdam striker, an Ivorian international, scored nothing less than a quadruple. On the evening of his first Champions League match, the 1.90m giant, born in Ris-Orangis (Essonne) and trained in Auxerre, was ruthless. He will long remember this evening and this success against Sporting Portugal (5-1), "a special moment" as he defines it. Finally a last French will keep an unforgettable memory of this September 15th. This is Eduardo Camavinga.

2️⃣5️⃣ @Camavinga

📅📌 Sunday |

Start and goal in @LaLigaFRA!

✅

📅📌 Wednesday |

Assisted and started in @ChampionsLeague!

✅ # UCL pic.twitter.com/3Kqavg3DYT

- Real Madrid CF 🇫🇷 (@realmadridfra) September 15, 2021

At 18, the new Real Madrid midfielder was a substitute at the start of the game against Inter Milan. But after coming off the bench and a few days after his first goal in his new colors, he offered the victory ball to Rodrigo at the end of the game (1-0) after having intelligently inserted himself into the opposing surface. He who had never known victory with Rennes in C1 will certainly savor this first success. "I have already been told that I had a lucky star, but we must not stop at that", declared the French international ". This will be less the case for Mike Maignan. The new AC Milan goalkeeper stopped a penalty from Mohamed Salah in the first half against Liverpool. But this new stop in what has become his real specialty was not enough.The Rossoneri finally lost (2-3) at Anfield.