Italy-France: relive Zinédine Zidane's first defeat at the head of the Blues who will still have to wait for qualification for the quarterfinals of the Nations League

Episode five of the Zinédine Zidane era, and a lackluster premiere. The French team lost on Thursday, November 12, after being overthrown by Roberto Mancini's Italy (3-1), at San Siro in Milan. A little over a month after the draw (1-1) against Squadra Azzurra at the Stade de France, the Blues did not seize their first opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Nations League.

• Qualification will have to wait. All it took was a draw, or a victory of course, for the Blues to book their ticket to the quarter-finals. But that was without counting on this patient and formidablely efficient Squadra Azzurra, carried by the double of their center forward Pio Esposito (26th and 75th).

• Without Mbappé, the Blues are too imprecise. He left the first meeting of the Zidane era prematurely, and the Blues once again had to compose without him up front. Without its captain or Ousmane Dembélé, France had to find other solutions up front, with Désiré Doué or Bradley Barcola among others, but with two posts during the meeting and many wasted opportunities, the French attackers were particularly orphaned by their captain.