Deschamps happy with France players for victory in Italy

Adrien Rabiot scored twice and Lucas Digne also struck for France that evening.

“We knew that even a win would be complicated because Italy was in great form. By coming here with a 3-1 win we can take back first place and I think that is deserved because we have done some very good things,” Deschamps told RAI Sport.

“I would say that from the first meeting we learned a very valuable lesson so that we will not make the same mistakes again. My team is young and has little experience, but it has quality and we proved that tonight.

“It took everything to win tonight. I think using three attackers was decisive to also defend well and create problems for Italy. Technically, my team performed great and I made set play decisions, studying Italy's defensive positions, which also paid off,” Deschamps continued.

“Italy has of course proven that it also has a lot of quality. France needed these six games to get some oxygen, to give young players time to grow and show what they could do. This victory is a great moment for my players.”