EURO offered the first goalless duel. Mbappé did not play in the match between France and the Netherlands

EURO 2024 on Friday night offered one of the anticipated group stage blockbusters as the Netherlands and France faced off in Leipzig. However, the football confrontation between the countries of the tulips and the Gallic cockerel resulted in the first goalless draw.

The French entered the match without Kylian Mbappé in the starting line-up. The national team captain, with a broken nose from the match against Austria, sat on the bench among the substitutes.

In the opening minute, Frimpong escaped down the right side but his finish from an angle was cleared off the three posts by the French goalkeeper. Moments later, at the other end of the field, the Dutch goalkeeper knocked a shot by Griezmann over the crossbar.

In the 14th minute, he had another chance, but he outpaced Rabiot’s pass in the small area and did not finish properly. Two minutes later, Mike Maignan defused Gakp’s attempt on the other side.

On the other hand, Bart Verbruggen had to intervene in the 28th minute against Thuram’s shot from a promising position after a run in behind the defence as it went wide of the target. The rest of the fairly even first half did not offer any more significant opportunities.

For a long time after the break, it was fairly quiet football without any serious scoring opportunities. It was not until the 63rd minute that Tchouaméni headed just over the Dutch goal. Then, with two minutes left, his teammate Griezmann missed a perfect shot from close range after a pass from Kanté.

In the 69th minute, the Oranjes celebrated a goal when Simons sent the ball into the net after Maignan’s intervention. The joy didn’t last long, however, as the head referee disallowed the goal after consulting VAR. Dumfries was standing close to the French goalkeeper, who was prevented from intervening, so he was offside.

The rest of the match did not really suggest that the score would change. Even the substitutions made by both teams did not help the pace of the game to pick up.

In the last minutes of the match it seemed that the teams belonging to the favourites of the whole tournament were satisfied with the points, although Les Bleus won the percentage of ball possession 59:41.

However, the match itself, in which Mbappé did not play at all, did not find a winner and thus brought the first ever goalless draw at the ongoing European Championship. The Netherlands and France are now on four points ahead of the final round of Group D, Austria have three points and Poland are still without a point.

Source: UEFA, CT Sport