Denmark takes Saint-Denis – AS.com

France, current champions of the Nations League, could not have started the defense of the title in their own stadium in a worse way. Didier Deschamps’s charges lost 2-1 to a stalwart Denmark who managed to overcome Karim Benzema’s extraordinary first goal. Cornelius, who had come on for Dolberg in the second half, was decisive as the striker led the comeback with a brace that left Saint-Denis speechless.

Football returned to the Stade France with the incidents of the Champions League final still in the chamber. bFrance had reinforced security before this Friday’s meeting with a fairly important police cordon that completely shielded the entrances to the stadium located in the town of Saint-Denis.

In sports, Deschamps seems to have definitively established the system of three central defenders. The French coach returned to playing with the 3-4-3 that has given him so much success since last year. Tchouaméni, on the move to Real Madrid, was a starter in midfield alongside Ngolo Kanté. In attack, Griezmann, Mbappé and Benzema formed an attack that is scary just to name it.

For its part, Denmark, a team that based on offensive football has managed to establish itself in the first step of European football (reached the semifinals of the last European Championship), He came out with his usual eleven, the classic 4-2-3-1 of Kasper Hjulmand with the main absence of Kjaer in defense.

The match started with a pace typical of a friendly. Although it was Denmark that took the lead in possession, having in Maehle’s boots, with a shot to the post at the far post, the clearest chance of the match, France little by little took control of the domain and locked up its rival. However, Deschamps’ men were unable to find the Griezmann-Mbappé-Benzema trio for practically the first 45 minutes.

It was the Real Madrid striker, with a house-brand delicatessen, who had the clearest opportunity for the world champion in the first half. Benzema left three Danish defenders on the way, combined with Kanté, who returned the ball to him, and the play ended up touching a rival defender. If it weren’t for Andersen, the five-time Champions League winner would have scored one of the goals of the season without a doubt.

Denmark, who had a moment of doubt from minute 15 to 30, knew how to recover thanks to the spectacular first half of their three central defenders. Both Vestergaard, Andersen and Nelsson forcefully contained Benzema, Griezmann and Mbappéthe latter injured in the knee and replaced by Nkunku at the break.

In the second half it started with a very different rhythm. Nkunku’s entry gave France the dynamism it had lacked in the first act and the Leipzig striker, precisely, generated the play that led to the 1-0, assisting Benzema, who runs out of adjectives for define him. With two subtle touches, the recent champion of the Champions League left two opponents on the ground and ended up finishing with his left leg like a charm. It had been a long time since the winner of the Ballon d’Or was so clear.

The effervescence of France for the first goal completely infected Deschamps’ men, who saw the game won early and, probably, were overconfident against a Denmark that has high-quality players in attack. Cornelius, who had come on in the second half for a missing Dolberg, took advantage of an extraordinary bounce pass from Højbjerg to level the scoreboard. Saliba, entered by Varane, enabled the Danish attacker, who was on the edge of offside. Although Kanté made it 2-1 with a shot to the post, Cornelius, unleashed, made it 1-2 in another play in which the French defense was exposed by drawing the offside line. In short, a big surprise in Saint-Denis or not so much, since Denmark reached the semifinals of the European Championship.