Belgium suffered another defeat to rivals France, but Lavia was among the former's outstanding performers in the game.
Romeo Lavia will be hoping to impress for Chelsea in October.More Videos
France head coach Zinedine Zidane has described Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia as a “quality” player despite Belgium’s 4-1 Nations League defeat.
After beating Belgium 1-0 last week, France secured another win in the reverse fixture in Paris on Monday, as they maintain a three-point lead at the top of Group A in the UEFA Nations League.
While France were the clear favourites ahead of the match, Belgium did not come to sit back and actually opened the scoring.
It started with Lavia’s outstanding vision. Receiving the ball in front of his own box, the 22-year-old midfielder made a 60-yard through ball that split France's defence, giving Dodi Lukebakio plenty of space to run through and score 10 minutes before the break.
Lavia's pass for Lukébakio 🤤 #NationsLeague
Image
Unfortunately for the visitors, France just had too much quality in their attack. Three second-half substitutes, Desire Doue, Rayan Cherki, and Michael Olise, combined for four goals to secure the hosts’ victory.
France boss Zidane was understandably happy about his team’s performance, but he also praised Belgium and, in particular, Lavia, for their fight.
“I didn’t watch his individual performance because I was keeping an eye on my own players, but I really liked his pass, yes,” Zidane said after the game when asked about Lavia’s assist.
“I watched it again in the changing room at half-time, during the analysis. He’s a quality player.
“But he’s not the only one in the Belgian team. There are plenty of them, even amongst those who came on as substitutes.
“They’ll always cause us problems when we face them again. We needed to show a reaction to win, and it’s good that we did.”
Chelsea trio to head back to west London
Aside from Lavia, fellow Blue Maxence Lacroix also featured in this game, playing a full 90 minutes alongside Manchester United’s Leny Yoro as a centre-back pairing.
Meanwhile, young goalkeeper Mike Penders was left unused on the bench after recently struggling with a quadriceps injury.
Lavia made four appearances for Belgium during this international break, twice as a starter and twice as a substitute. Lacroix also played four games for France, three of which were as a starter. Unfortunately for Penders, his wait for a senior debut for Belgium continues. He missed the national team’s two games and sat on the bench for the next two.
The trio will soon head back to England to start preparing for their return to action with Chelsea in a home Premier League fixture against Bournemouth on Saturday, October 10.
Other internationals will join them as well, while those who are not on international duty returned to training at Cobham last week.
Xabi Alonso even arranged a behind-closed-doors friendly against Championship side Portsmouth at the weekend, which unfortunately ended in a 2-0 loss. However, it is worth noting that he barely had any first-team players to work with, since key players such as Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer are still recovering from injuries.