With France and Germany both failing to qualify for the Nations League final, it left the two to battle it out for third place – but while Florian Wirtz started, Ibrahima Konate was left unused.
International action is slowly starting to wind down for the 2024/25 season, with Konate and Wirtz the latest to sign off after their Nations League third-place playoff on Sunday.
Konate, who had played the full 90 minutes in the semi-final against Spain, was dropped out of the starting lineup by Didier Deschamps after his 5.6-out-of-10 performance – as per FotMob.
According to Get French Football News, Konate trained on his own on Saturday and it was said that it would be a “surprise” to see him making the starting lineup.
In the end, he remained on the bench for the entirety of his side’s 2-0 win over Germany, with Deschamps instead turning to Lucas Hernandez and Loic Bade at centre-back as part of an experimental backline.
Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise scored the goals to secure a third-place finish for the French side, while the Liverpool transfer target closed out his season with a 90-minute outing.
Some may have hoped Wirtz would be rested to avoid injury, Bayer Leverkusen perhaps at the top of that list, but he played every minute as the left-sided forward for Germany.
Wirtz created the most chances of any player on the pitch (four) but conversely lost eight of the nine duels he contested – a stat that Arne Slot will not overlook.
He hit the woodwork once and had the third-most touches of any player (76), and will now hope to wrap up his move to Liverpool before enjoying his summer break.
The Reds had their third bid worth £113 million rejected by Bayer Leverkusen, news which broke ahead of Germany’s game, with the German side reported to want a package closer to £118 million.
The mini transfer window closes on Tuesday evening (June 10) but re-opens on June 16, with Liverpool undoubtedly eager to get Wirtz over the line sooner rather than later.
In other news on the international stage, Diogo Jota lifted his second Nations League trophy.
