Kylian Mbappé sat proceedings out with his broken nose and France, positive but achingly profligate, showed how much they will need him back.
The first goalless draw in this European Championship was not short of scoring opportunities and it must concern Didier Deschamps that, without his talisman, the favourites were ultimately blunt.
They could even have lost to a bright Netherlands team if the largely English team of officials had not, via a VAR check extending for more than two and a half minutes, disallowed a potential winner from Xavi Simons in what was a wafer-thin call.
France knew there was little to be gained in risking Mbappé from the start, particularly in a format that serves up little jeopardy for the big hitters.
Protective tricolore mask or not, a stray elbow to the face could bring potentially catastrophic consequences for their summer and that of the tournament’s biggest star.
Mbappé had not engaged in contact training since departing the Austria game late on and the gamble of pitching him straight into what, on paper, was the group stage’s showpiece game was simply not on.
The heavens had opened over Leipzig earlier in the day. While this sweeping arena was largely brilliant orange, with a healthy dab of blue, at kick-off the skies had been a tumultuous grey during the afternoon.
Did these two old powers have the stomach for anything equally thunderous at this point in the month? Both already had a foot in the knockout stage and energy conservation may yet prove decisive.
Two close calls in the first four minutes made light of such concerns. Jeremie Frimpong, giving Theo Hernández a healthy head start but tearing past him thrillingly, found himself through on goal after 56 seconds but Mike Maignan tipped his bobbled effort just wide. Then Bart Verbruggen pawed over a long-range piledriver from Antoine Griezmann and proceedings had not required Mbappé to serve up an electric start.
Griezmann, playing just off Marcus Thuram in Mbappé’s absence with Aurélien Tchouaméni recalled to beef up the midfield, then missed twice in quick succession before the quarter-hour. First Adrien Rabiot, put in cleverly by Thuram, unselfishly jabbed to his left with Verbruggen advancing only for Griezmann to stumble in attempting to convert. An effort swept just wide seconds later, after good work from N’Golo Kanté, was much cleaner and at this point there was scant conservatism on show.
Ronald Koeman had kept faith with Memphis Depay despite Wout Weghorst’s goalscoring claim to the centre-forward role against Poland. Depay, his sweatband bearing the slogan “Who cares” perhaps giving any headwear worn by Mbappé a run for its money, led a smart and mobile front line that stretched France. Cody Gakpo drew a fine save from Maignan after cutting inside from the left and then Depay, taking over after slick work from Frimpong, squandered a promising position on the counter.
He should have been punished when Thuram, slipped into acres of space by Jules Koundé’s ball down the right, bore down on goal but blazed wildly wide. It had been a pulsating opening period, even if abetted by a series of cheap concessions by both teams that invited fast breaks.
From two such Dutch sorties, Hernández dealt better with Frimpong than in his previous attempt and Simons shot weakly to Maignan after dispossessing Ousmane Dembélé. Then Griezmann, heading straight at Verbruggen, capped a half that could not be faulted for intent.
Mbappé was first out of the tunnel for the second half, waving to France’s contingent before returning to his berth on the bench. He would surely have converted one of those earlier opportunities but the gruel for his colleagues was initially thinner after the restart. A wayward swipe from Rabiot, meeting a presentable Thuram cross, barely counted as an opening although Kanté was not far wide from distance on the hour.
The traffic was largely going in one direction now and Tchouaméni, rising to plant his head on a Dembélé delivery, was within a foot of finding the breakthrough. Then Griezmann contrived another glaring miss after Kanté, salvaging an excellent Thuram-led move that Nathan Aké had desperately defended, fed him six yards out. Verbruggen deserved praise for being quickly out to block but surely Griezmann had to score.
Thuram was next to have a go, shooting over. France had upped the tempo to a level that beckoned a goal but were let off after Simons, blasting in low and briefly wheeling away in joy, had one of his own ruled out. Denzel Dumfries was ruled to have been standing in an offside position next to Maignan, apparently thwarting his attempts to dive, and a prolonged VAR check confirmed that decision.
It dismayed the Netherlands, and the length of the check by the Stuart Attwell-led video refereeing team was not of a piece with the sharper calls made so far in this competition, but was probably the correct conclusion.
Both sides subsequently rotated their attacks and it was no surprise at all that Mbappé, conspicuous in not wearing the gold bib sported by France’s other substitutes, remained in situ. He will surely be needed to make a difference soon.
