“I’m sure he’ll do the job.” Last Saturday, William Saliba was asked about one of the unmissable duels of this France-Belgium, the one that would pit the crazy dribbler Jérémy Doku against the full-back Jules Koundé. He wanted to be reassuring. Logical given the accomplished defensive performances of the Barcelona player during the group stage. If we go back further, there was also this consistent double confrontation in the Champions League in the spring against Kylian Mbappé.
No bad surprises, the job was done and much more. The Manchester City winger spent his round of 16 very far from Mike Maignan’s goal. His liveliness was hardly valued by the Red Devils who were unhealthily cautious. What we will remember from this small victory at the end of the boredom is in fact the offensive play of Jules Koundé. He is the only element in Didier Deschamps’ strategy to have caused lasting problems for his opponent. Which earned him the man of the match award, even though he did not register an assist.
