France are through to the World Cup semfinals, and Real Madrid's biggest star and Barcelona's biggest star are set to clash with Kylian Mbappe leading the French line an Lamine Yamal dazzling on the right side of the Spanish formation.
But the game will truly be won and lost in the midfield, where Spain are the masters of tactically controlling a game and comfortably roving in possession with the likes of Rodri and Pedri. Meanwhile, the most important and talented center midfielder for France is Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been missing the past couple of games with a muscular injury.
At first, it seemed like it was a case of France not wanting to take any chances, but with Tchouameni missing the Morocco game in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, there was real cause for concern from the Madridistas about him.
Aurelien Tchouameni can show his value
Now, according to a report from L'Equipe , Aurelien Tchouameni is going to make his return and will be ready to start for France at the base of the midfield against Spain and their Ballon d'Or No. 6, Rodri, who has been pining for that Real Madrid transfer.
So this is going to be a big game for both Tchouameni and Rodri to showcase themselves to a world audience. Tchou is necessary to France being able to play up to an opponent the caliber of Spain, because they will be tested a lot more in the semifinals than they were in the quarterfinals by a pretty underwhelming Morocco side or in the Round of 16 by Paraguay - or the Round of 32 against Sweden.
Spain is by far France's toughest opponent, and Tchouameni has to be at his best. Real Madrid recently showed a lot of faith in the young defensive midfielder by giving him a new contract through 2030/31, with Jose Mourinho personally requesting to keep him and the club maintaing through the media that they really did not want Enzo Fernandez or any other midfield replacement - and Florentino Perez had already rejected Rodri multiple times.
Rodri has been having a great tournament and is determined to prove to Real Madrid that he is worth their time, especially since the main barrier to his transfer was cost - and his contract runs out at the end of the 2026/27 season. Meanwhile, Tchouameni can prove to Real that looking elsewhere for someone like Rodri is a waste of time. With games missed due to injury, Tchou is back, and Spain is his chance to show his full value.
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