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Croatia beat France 2-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarterfinal clash. Goals from Ante Budemir and Ivan Perisic helped the hosts secure a comfortable victory despite missing an early penalty, giving them an advantage ahead of the return leg in Paris.
A footballing powerhouse losing is always a conversation starter with talking points, and conversation points are sure to emerge across the football world. Five talking points from the game are:
5. Dominik Livakovic's mammoth performance for Croatia against France
The Fenerbahce keeper had a fabulous match for his country against Les Bleus and earned his clean sheet with a brilliant performance for Zlatko Dalic's side. The 30-year-old keeper made six saves in the game and made seven recoveries to help his side to victory.
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Croatia hopes Livakovic can repeat his heroics in the second leg and help them to the semifinals of the UEFA Nations League on Sunday.
4. Ivan Perisic, Croatia's fine wine out wide
At 36, PSV Eindhoven star Ivan Perisic looked evergreen against players on the French team who were at least five years younger than him. The Croatian international scored a goal and assisted in the first half to put his nation on the path to victory in their UEFA Nations League quarterfinal clash.
In his 70 minutes on the pitch, the former Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Tottenham Hotspur star completed 19 of 25 passes and won three of nine duels in his impressive performance against France.
3. Kylian Mbappe loses his scoring touch for France
Despite being one of the best French players on the planet and in fine form for Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe could not show his quality in front of goal for his homeland against Croatia. The forward played well but failed to bag a goal that could have helped his country spark a comeback.
The Los Blancos star created four chances and tested Dominik Livakovic four times, but he could not replicate his Midas touch at club level, which has seen him score 30 goals and provide four assists in 43 club games.
2. Ibrahima Konate's poor game against Croatia
The Liverpool defender's poor luck continued after a week when he got knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and lost the League Cup final. The 25-year-old defender endured a poor performance that saw him hooked at halftime against Croatia after a disappointing performance in the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal first leg.
The defender handled the ball for an early penalty, which Mike Maignan mercifully saved, but he looked poor in his 45 minutes on the pitch for France.
1. Mike Maignan's heroic performance
Mike Maignan's fabulous performance will be downplayed because he was on the losing side, but the AC Milan star gave a fine account of himself for his country against Croatia. Besides saving Andrej Kramaric's spot kick, the 29-year-old was near faultless with his 35 touches in the game.
He completed 28 of 29 passes, made three recoveries, and made a fine non-penalty save to give Les Bleus hope ahead of their return leg in the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal.
