‘We were outclassed in every department’ – Aurélien Tchouaméni analyses France’s defeat to Germany

Aurélien Tchouaméni was frank in his assessment of France’s 2-0 defeat against Germany on Saturday, but the Real Madrid midfielder is not worried about Les Bleus, who will look to quickly reverse the trend ahead of this summer’s Euros. 

France went behind within just seven seconds thanks to a Florian Wirtz stunner, and never truly recovered. Didier Deschamps’ side lacked intensity, aggression and commitment and went 2-0 behind thanks to a Kai Havertz goal early in the second half. Les Bleus didn’t have a single shot on target in the second half and lost their penultimate match before this summer’s Euros in Germany. 

“Simply, we weren’t up to it,” said Lucas Hernandez, who was substituted midway through the second half at the Groupama Stadium. 

PLAYER RATINGS | France 0-2 Germany: Florian Wirtz-inspired Germany ease past feeble France.

Jules Koundé, 3
Brice Samba, 6
Kylian Mbappé, 4
Marcus Thuram, 3https://t.co/9sUxdW0slv

— Get French Football News (@GFFN) March 23, 2024

“I think we were outclassed in every department,” began Tchouaméni in a post-match interview with TF1. “We couldn’t put our game plan in place. We came up against a great team. We need to do better, individually and collectively. It’s a wake-up call. There’s no need to overreact either. We are aware of and confident in our qualities,” he added. 

“I think we weren’t up to it. We didn’t have the ingredients […] In terms of commitment, and aggression, we were below them,” added Deschamps, who will be looking to see a reaction from his side when they face Chile on Tuesday, in what is Les Bleus’ last match before the Euros.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle