Antonio Rüdiger’s Germany beat Aurelién Tchouameni & Eduardo Camavinga’s France

Germany, fresh from the sacking of coach Hansi Flick, bounced back with a 2-1 win over France in a game which featured three Real Madrid players, including Antonio Rüdiger, Aurelién Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga. All three played 90 minutes in a game which saved its drama for the start and the end.

The three Madridistas had a combined 280 touches between them and ended the game as the three players with the most involvements across the game. Despite that, none were on the scoresheet as Thomas Müller gave the Germans an early lead on four minutes, which was then doubled by Leroy Sané before an Antoine Griezmann penalty was converted on 89 minutes.

Rüdiger’s influence

In the German side, Antonio Rüdiger played a crucial role and completed more passes than any other player on the pitch with a total of 78 successful passes. His influence on play was clear from the back line, looking far more comfortable than Niklas Süle who was playing alongside him in central defence.

Rüdiger was shown a yellow card on 55 minutes for a clumsy challenge on Kingsley Coman, but won his two other ground duels and looked steady in a German defence which was not breached very often by a French side which left Kylian Mbappé on the bench.

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Rüdiger had been criticised for his display against Japan which saw a humiliating defeat, but was back at his best against France. His handling of Randal Kolo Muani was exemplary, with the PSG attacker winning only one of four duels.

A Madrid connection in the French midfield

On the French side, two of the standout performers were the Real Madrid men in the middle of the park. Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelién Tchouameni unexpectedly started alongside one another with Adrien Rabiot also starting in the midfield three.

The man in the thick of the action was Camavinga, who only featured as a late substitute against Ireland a few days ago. He led the stats rankings both for duels won with nine and duels lost with 13, and was involved throughout.

He completed more dribbles than any other player with three and was essential in the ball progression within Didier Deschamps’ system. He offered a progression that neither Tchouameni nor Rabiot could while on the ball, giving a more direct threat than their passing ranges.

Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images

For Tchouameni, it was another stellar display to maintain his early season form. He completed 93% of his passes, including 14 into the final third, his sole cross attempt and all five attempted long balls. What’s more, his confidence in front of goal was clearly boosted by his strike against Ireland, taking on five shots in total, and accounting for half of France’s six shots on target.

In addition, he recovered the ball eight times and won seven of his eight duels. Germany looked to overload his space with offensive-minded midfielders, but it had no real impact and Tchouameni was able to disarm them with ease. It was another complete performance to establish himself in this team.