Two new faces in Didier Deschamps’ squad of 23 for the forthcoming international friendlies against the Ivory Coast on 26th March, in Marseille – and South Africa, three days later in Lille.

The inclusion of RB Leipzig’s attacking midfielder Christopher Nkunku – and right-sided defender Jonathan Clauss of Lens – was not unexpected.

So discussion on Thursday veered more towards a couple of established stars – Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema.

“As for Karim, even before the match and given what he did in it, it changed everything. He is at a level of excellence because of everything he does. He deserves it, because of the progression in everything he does – in his preparation. He advances in age while being one of the very best (in the world). The best are decisive in the big games, that was the case this time. Kylian scored too, so it’s a very, very good thing. He’s got a little (injury) worry. It shouldn’t be serious problem but the sequence of games with their schedule… I hope that everything will go well, even if there is always the possibility when he is with us to manage (his workload) a little bit.”

The latter was the undoubted star of Real Madrid’s 3-1 Champions League win over PSG the previous Wednesday.

Benzema hit a hat-trick, while Mbappe scored the visitors’ goal