Nations League, matchday three: Italy set to face France in Saint-Denis after German 2-0

Matchday three of the Nations League league phase brings in the evening the group’s most anticipated clash: at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, at 8.45pm, Mancini’s Italy takes on reigning champions France.

The Azzurri arrive at the appointment with confidence, after the 4-1 away win against Turkey in the previous matchday. A wide-margin result that came shortly before the new fixture against one of the tournament’s most highly rated teams, in a match played on the French side’s home ground and which for Mancini’s side represents a direct test against one of continental football’s benchmark national teams.

In the afternoon, meanwhile, another result from the same matchday arrived: Germany defeated Serbia 2-0 in Munich. The German win fits into the framework of the League A group stage, which in this third matchday sees several of Europe’s top teams facing each other in a round scheduled close to the previous one.

The Nations League format provides for each national team to face a limited number of opponents in the league phase, with results determining the final standing in the group. In this context, both the Munich match and the Saint-Denis one contribute to defining the balance of power in League A, the competition’s top tier bringing together Europe’s highest-ranked national teams.

For Italy, the match against France comes at a time when the team has shown signs of good attacking form, as evidenced by the result achieved against Turkey. This evening’s clash, however, represents a test of a different level, being a match against the competition’s reigning champions, played moreover away from home.

The two matches of this matchday — the one already concluded in Munich and the one scheduled in Saint-Denis — are part of the same round of the league phase, the third of the current season. The news currently comes from the official UEFA Nations League schedule, picked up by two outlets; no further independent confirmation is currently available beyond this primary source.

The Munich result, with Germany’s 2-0 win over Serbia, remains for now the only definitive outcome of the evening: the result of France-Italy will only be known at the end of the match scheduled at the Stade de France.