‘A duo in hell’ – Premier League stars slammed for France performances | OneFootball

France lost 2-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final against Croatia in Split on Thursday and two Premier League players have been singled out as culprits for the defeat.

Arsenal’s William Saliba lined up alongside Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté for Les Bleus as Croatia raced into a two-goal lead in the first half. Konaté had a particularly torrid 45 minutes, covering Ivan Perisic on Croatia’s first goal and being all at sea for the second.

“Rarely have we seen him suffer so much,” said L’Équipe, who gave the Liverpool centre-back a 2 rating. He was replaced by Dayot Upamecano at half-time as he was suffering from what Didier Deschamps described as a “knock”.

Saliba hardly fard any better. He was beaten to the ball on the first goal. On his performance, L’Équipe said, “He was tormented in frightening proportions by Ante Budimir and could have even conceded a penalty in the 43rd minute.”

The France international had a better second half, as noted by L’Équipe, who subsequently gave him a 3 rating. A piece from the publication this morning labelled Saliba and Konaté as “a duo in hell”. Both have certainly had better days.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle