AC Milan had two representatives in the game between France and Croatia, and it is fair to suggest that they both fared differently.
In the past season, the French duo of Theo Hernandez and Mike Maignan have been quite poor compared to their own standards, and the fall of both has been well, and regularly, spoken about.
Starting with Theo, the left-back has gone from arguably the best in the world to one of the Serie A left-backs, certainly a fall from grace. The story, though not as extreme, is largely the same for Maignan, who has also fallen from his pedestal as one of Europe’s best.
Of course, both retain their pedigree and their performances often see spikes of correction, but they are no longer the consistently brilliant pair of old.
On international duty, there was hope that Theo could improve, and whilst Les Bleus kept a clean sheet against Croatia, the left-back missed an important penalty in the shoot-out. However, he was very much bailed out by his Milan teammate, as Maignan saved twice from 12 yards.
Despite his heroics, the goalkeeper was only given a 7 by L’Equipe, whilst Theo was given a 5, as relayed by JimmyCleg on X.
