Two giants of international and European football collide on Friday night, as France and Italy kick off their new UEFA Nations League campaigns at Parc des Princes in Paris. The match is scheduled to start at 12:45 AM (Saturday, BST).
While the Azzurri made a dismal defence of their European title during the summer, Les Bleus exited to eventual Euro 2024 winners Spain in the semi-finals; now, the teams convene in Paris.
Although France reached the last four at this year's Euros - and Randal Kolo Muani's early goal in the semi-final loss to Spain gave hope of making it to the final - they rarely convinced, going out after scoring just once outside of set-pieces and own goals.
Captain Kylian Mbappe, who scored only one goal, broke his nose in the opening game against Austria and returned sporting a mask which seemed to inhibit his play, summing up an underwhelming tournament for the 2022 World Cup finalists.
Didier Deschamps has kept faith with most of his Euro 2024 squad for this month's Nations League fixtures, but free agent Adrien Rabiot and Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard have both been dropped.
Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise has been called up for the first time, after impressing
at the Olympics by recording seven goal involvements as France claimed a silver medal. Recent Roma signing Manu Kone could also make his
senior debut.
Another Olympian, Loic Bade, was added to the squad after Chelsea's Wesley Fofana withdrew, citing his need to work on fitness following a long injury layoff.
Ferland Mendy has also pulled out, with Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne being brought in to replace him; Italy-based Matteo Guendouzi has been drafted in as midfield cover.
Meanwhile, Italy will be without Gianluca Scamacca - who recently suffered an ACL injury - and Nicolo Barella, who has undergone scheduled sinus surgery.
In all, eight players from Luciano Spalletti's Euros squad are absent - including Gianluca Mancini and Jorginho - but there are first call-ups for Marco Brescianini and Caleb Okoli; Destiny Udogie, Moise Kean and Sandro Tonali are among several players returning.
After his tactical tinkering in Germany, Spalletti has spoken of sticking with a back three for the foreseeable future, so in-form Atalanta BC striker Mateo Retegui could lead the line in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
