MILAN. This time Kylian Mbappè puts his signature on it. After the disappointment at the last European for the decisive mistake on penalties against Switzerland, it is in fact his decisive leg that overturns Spain and gives the Nations League to France. In front of the more than 30 thousand at San Siro, Deschamps’ men go under after Oyarzabal’s Iberian advantage, but recover in a heart-pounding second half, with Benzema’s momentary equalizer. Then, in the final, Lloris saves put the lock on the transalpine success, in a race with high rhythms and above all high quality in which there is no shortage of arbitration controversies (Mbappè seems in fact to start offside in the action of the decisive network, but it was actually kept in play by a touch of Eric Garcia). A triumph for Deschamps, who becomes the second coach capable of winning two trophies at the helm of the French after Roger Lemerre (who had won Euro 2000 and Confederations Cup 2001), while France becomes the first national team to win all four major tournaments. from Fifa and Uefa. The excellent performance of the many youngsters launched by Luis Enrique is not enough for Spain, above all the 2004 Gavi class, still protagonist.
A final opened by the whistles of the Meazza for the Marseillaise, whistles that almost seem to charge France, which immediately started strong. Little by little, however, Spain with the quality of the dribble managed to limit the gusts of the transalpine sprinters, ready to restart especially on the left with Mbappè and the Milan player Theo Hernandez. In the first half, however, little happens, also thanks to the defenses, with France losing Varane due to injury.
The game ‘explodes’, however, after an hour of play, when everything changes within two minutes. On yet another French restart, Theo Hernandez hits the crossbar from a few steps away. Reversal of the front and Spanish advantage: Busquets launch for Oyarzabal, who overtakes Upamecano in speed and beats Lloris with his left-handed. Benzema thinks about putting everything back into balance two minutes later, with a right-footed shot from the edge of the area that slips under the crossbar. Here Mbappè takes the chair. The PSG talent wastes two good opportunities first to carry France forward, but in the third he is relentless: on the hole of Theo Hernandez he presents himself alone in front of Unai Simon, double step and ball in the net between the Spanish protests for the starting position by Mbappè, who seems to be offside. The Var, however, does not intervene and Luis Enrique’s men throw themselves into the attack in search of a draw. However, the best Lloris is needed to close the door on Oyarzabal first and then on Pino in the final. And the Nations League, with the captain’s parades, thus takes the road to Paris.