France-Germany: 23 years later, the Bleuets dream of a final at the Euro Espoirs

Hardened by a difficult journey in preparation as in each of its matches, the French team is counting on this experience to upset the odds against Germany, Wednesday (9 p.m.) in Kosice (Slovakia), and reach the third final of a Euro U21 in its history.

" Nothing was given to us ," summed up Gérald Baticle after his players' 3-2 quarter-final victory over Denmark. " We adapted to the difficulties we encountered with the squad, we reviewed our tactical plans, we worked to build a good squad, to integrate the new players well and get everyone up to an optimal level ," the coach recalled.

His revamped Bleuets have successfully transformed themselves. By reaching the semi-finals, they have already achieved the goal they set for themselves. And now they're dreaming bigger. " We've been working for three weeks now, and today we're reaping the rewards ," says Matthis Abline, one of the players called up at the last minute. " Even when we're behind, we never give up. A football match is long, 95 minutes or more. (Against Denmark) we hung on until the end and managed to come back and win. We're capable of doing great things together because we work for each other. It makes you want to go all the way ," explains the Nantes striker.

It's only happened once before. In 1988, 37 years ago, the Bleuets, led by Éric Cantona, gave France its only European title in this category. Since then, only the generation of Mickaël Landreau, Sydney Govou, and Peguy Luyindula had managed to reach the final in 2002, beaten by the Czech Republic of Petr Cech and Milan Baros on penalties (0-0, 3-1 on penalties). It's perhaps the French team that was least expected at this level that is preparing to emulate its glorious predecessors.

Not that the 2025 Bleuets will be any worse than those of previous years. As an indicator of their talent, the French team in Slovakia represents a market value on the reference site Transfermarkt of €340 million for all its players. Their German opponent in the semi-finals, despite being the favorites of the competition, peaks at €267 million. But Gérald Baticle's players have experienced so many ups and downs during their preparation for the Euro that it seemed optimistic of him to imagine them reaching the semi-finals.

For a year, Thierry Henry's former assistant with the U21s, appointed in August following the former Gunner's departure after the silver medal won at the Paris Olympics last summer, initially built his squad around his Olympians. But Rayan Cherki and Désiré Doué in particular exploded onto the scene at the highest level during the season, to the point of being called up by Didier Deschamps to the French senior team.

For the Blues, they found Malo Gusto, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Bradley Barcola and Eduardo Camavinga who had already moved up to the next level, but who were all old enough to be in Slovakia, the Euro Espoirs being reserved for players born after January 2002. In addition to these absences, Baticle also had to deal with the change in FIFA regulations which removed the Euro U21 from its calendar, which was played at the same time as it launched its new Club World Cup format.

As a result, several clubs, mostly French, whether or not they were pressured by players reluctant to participate in the Euro, refused, as they had the right to do, to release the players the French coach was counting on. In total, and including injured players, Baticle had to do without more than a dozen players and hastily rethink his roster, as well as all the work he and his staff had put in for months. But this squad improved by winning matches in the final minutes, against Denmark and Georgia (3-2), and dreams of making history. Against all odds.