Deschamps demands improvement as France seek to overturn Croatia deficit

France's midfield must improve their passing and be more creative as they look to undo a 2-0 Nations League quarterfinal defeat by Croatia when the sides meet in the return leg in Paris on Sunday, manager Didier Deschamps said.

Croatia's Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic scored in their first leg win on Thursday, with France putting in a below-par performance.

“The midfield can be more creative, in absolute terms. But what we lacked above all was technical accuracy. Starting with our passing,” Deschamps said on Saturday.

“I'm not going to say who will start tomorrow and how. But it's a question of balance, which we didn't have in the first leg.

“They were semi-finalists at the last World Cup and the last Nations League. They're a very good team.

“Some may say they have older players, but that doesn't stop them from performing very well. I've even congratulated [Zlatko] Dalic, my counterpart, because since he took over, he's kept this team at the highest level.”

The winners will face either defending champions Spain or the Netherlands in the semifinals in June, with France facing an uphill battle to ensure their progression to the last four.

They will need talisman Kylian Mbappé firing on all cylinders if they are to progress.

The 26-year-old, who has 87 caps, is back in the French squad for the first time since September after being left out of the team's Nations League fixtures in October and November after his move to Real Madrid in July.

Mbappé failed to assert himself in the first leg, but Deschamps said he was happy with the forward's effort, adding: “Kylian is very good, he's on form.

“He wasn't very effective. But I found him involved on the pitch, available, making a lot of effort.”

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman knows his side will have to be better to stand any chance in Sunday's second leg against holders Spain in Valencia.

The first leg ended in a 2-2 draw in Rotterdam on Thursday after Spain scored a stoppage-time equaliser in a pulsating clash but the European champions now have home advantage.

“I do expect another match with high intensity,” Koeman said on Saturday. “Both teams can also learn from Thursday. And they will.

“Spain had many moments when they were on the back foot and they will undoubtedly have paid attention to that. And that will have irritated them so they will come with intent. We, therefore, also have to do better.”

But Koeman feels his side have a chance to upset the hosts and reach June's semifinals against either Croatia or France. .

“We could have hurt them a lot more,” Koeman said of the first leg with Spain. “Hopefully we will do that tomorrow. Things have to improve in some areas.”

He will have to sort out the left-back role after Jorrel Hato was sent off in the first leg and is suspended.

Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen was called up on Friday as a replacement, while uncapped Ajax Amsterdam centre back Youri Baas is also an option.

“It's a tough choice,” Koeman said. “Maatsen joined at the last minute, but he's a real left-back.”

The Dutch are in the unusual situation that should they lose it might be advantageous to their hopes of a World Cup place at the finals in North America next year.

If they beat Spain, the Netherlands go into World Cup qualifying Group E and will start with two tough away matches against Bulgaria and Turkey in September. Georgia is the other country in the group.

But if they lose on Sunday, they go into Group G and will play Finland (away) and Malta (home) in their opening World Cup qualifiers in June. It is a five-team group with Poland and Lithuania the other two countries.

Italy manager Luciano Spalletti has called for something extraordinary from his side as they prepare to overturn a first-leg deficit against Germany in their second leg on Sunday.

Italy face a tough challenge at Signal Iduna Park after Germany came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory at San Siro on Thursday in the first leg.

“We knew we were up against a strong team. In my life, I've hidden plenty of defeats, but I didn't want to treat this one like that, because we did what we had to do,” Spalletti said.

“We need to do something new. It will take something extraordinary because we're starting from a disadvantage, but we need another performance like Thursday's. We don't need to invent the impossible.

“We just need to change a few moments in the game and have some individuals make a difference. Tomorrow, everything will matter, especially the collective effort.”

Uefa Nations League quarterfinal second legs

Sunday:

(SA times)

• Georgia v Armenia (4pm)
• Hungary v Türkiye (7pm)
• Iceland v Kosovo (7pm)
• Scotland v Greece (7pm)
• Serbia v Austria (7pm)
• Slovenia v Slovakia (7pm)
• Belgium Ukraine (9.45pm)
• France v Croatia (9.45pm)
• Germany v Italy (9.45pm)
• Portugal v Denmark (9.45pm)
• Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria (9.45pm)
• Spain v Netherlands (9.45pm)

Reuters