Lucas Digne played for France on Monday night as they secured a 2-1 victory over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League.
Digne has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season for Aston Villa. The Frenchman has started in every Premier League game and recorded two assists in seven appearances.
The 31-year-old has impressed enough to keep Ian Maatsen out of the starting XI, the Dutchman they signed from Chelsea for £37.5 million this summer.
Digne’s form earned him his latest call-up to the French national side during the international break. Didier Deschamps brought him off the bench in a 4-1 win over Isreal before starting him against Belgium, with the former Everton man starring down the left flank.
How the French media rated Lucas Digne’s performance vs Italy
Digne and Villa teammate Youri Tielemans faced off against each other in the UEFA Nations League.
Belgium haven’t beaten the French in 43 years, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Deschamps’ men run out as 2-1 winners, with Digne grabbing an assist for Randal Kolo Muani’s winning goal.
The experienced left-back was great going forward and provided quality ammunition down the left flank but struggled defensively against the lively Jeremy Doku, who tore him to shreds.
So Foot rated his performance a 5/10 and said: “Suffering to defend, decisive when attacking. He is there, the real replacement for Kylian Mbappé!”
Eurosport gave a similar assessment of his 90 minutes as they claimed he constantly looked ‘overwhelmed’ by the pace of Doku but was ‘dangerous’ in attack.
Handing him a 6/10 rating, they wrote: “His match had started so badly. Constantly overwhelmed by Doku, abandoned by Barcola, the former Lille player suffered the Belgian assaults. Forced into error or overwhelmed by Doku’s speed, he did not give up and was dangerous on each of his incursions. It was he who placed the ball for the second goal on Kolo Muani’s head (62nd). Doku moved to the left in the second half and Digne took a breather.”
Lucas Digne’s stats vs Belgium
Villa supporters won’t be shocked to see how well Digne performed when given the license to attack and he provided the game’s decisive moment – an inch-perfect cross for Kolo Muani to head home.
Impressively, despite struggling to live with Manchester City’s Doku, the Frenchman did put in a decent shift defensively.
Lucas Digne’s statistics vs Belgium (Sofascore)
- 3 clearances
- 2 interceptions
- 4 tackles
- 5 ground duels won
- 80% pass completion (35/44)
- 2 accurate crosses
- 1 successful dribble
While his performance was solid, the most pleasing aspect for Villa fans and Unai Emery was seeing him last the full 90 minutes without getting injured.
Digne should now return to Bodymoor Heath after a productive spell with his nation and feel ready for the trip to Fulham on Saturday.
