Switzerland 0 France 0: Crossbar denies Dimitri Payet and Paul Pogba as honours are shared

PAUL POGBA was starting to look like a £75million player last night as he finally arrived at Euro 2016.

The Juventus midfielder produced a masterclass for France in Lille as they ended top of Group A.

Switerland's Xherdan Shaqiri challenges France midfielder Paul Pogba for the ball

Only one thing was missing from his performance . . . a goal.

But, boy, he could have scored a hat-trick in the space of seven first-half minutes.

It is small wonder Jose Mourinho wants him back to Old Trafford.

And you must say if boss Didier Deschamps can get Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Anthony Martial firing on all cylinders at the same time, France might take some stopping.

Payet — who came on as a sub this time after being rested — almost pulled off more heroics but saw his stunning 75th-minute volley crash back off the bar.

After a poor performance in the opening match against Romania and a display that hardly set the world alight against Albania, Pogba was on a mission.

He was full of running, tackled well, passed superbly and, wow, how he can crack a shot.

Only the crossbar TWICE and great goalkeeping from Swiss stopper Yann Sommer denied him.

And he even cleared a Fabian Schar header off the line after just eight minutes.

But going forward he was a massive threat.

First, he let fly from the edge of the box which keeper Sommer pushed on to the bar after 11 minutes.

And then, just a couple of minutes later, after playing a one-two with Kingsley Coman on the left, he saw an angled cracker superbly pushed wide by Sommer.

Then surging forward again, Pogba was unlucky to see another brilliant effort from 25 yards crash against the bar. All this after just 18 minutes.

And it was not just surging runs and shots. He also whipped in a wonderful cross, which Andre-Pierre Gignac was close to meeting.

Arsene Wenger was in the stadium supporting his French homeland.

And the Arsenal boss was able to check out first-hand his new signing, Granit Xhaka, in the Swiss midfield.

Wenger got to see a beast of a midfield battle between Pogba and his new man — which peaked with Xhaka having his shirt ripped in half by the Frenchman.

Maybe he just wanted to make sure he got it early . . .

Yet the French again started this game slowly and it was only the performance of Pogba that was propping them up.

They were often slow in possession and did not move the ball quickly enough.

Both teams were not helped, though, by a poor playing surface.

Players constantly lost their footing on a pitch that cut up badly.

After the break, Xherdan Shaqiri, who had been quiet, was shifted into a more central role after making little impact on the right flank.

The French finally had a worthwhile attack that did not involve Pogba, as Gignac shot from the edge of the box straight at Sommer.

It was a big night for Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris. He was skipper of the France team for the 54th time, equalling Deschamps’ record.

And he had to be very alert to gather a poor headed back-pass from Patrice Evra, which Breel Embolo so nearly intercepted.

Another wonderful pass from Pogba almost got France ahead, but Antoine Griezmann was denied by another top Sommer save.

Valon Behrami managed to burst the ball after a tackle on Griezmann — before a piece of magic that could have left Switzerland deflated.

Moussa Sissoko produced a superb deep cross to the left edge of the Swiss box  and sub Payet side-footed a stunning volley that crashed back off the bar with 15 minutes left.

But, having scored late goals in their first two matches, there was to be no last-gasp heroics this time from France.

Pogba and Payet aside, the French are yet to show up properly at this tournament.

Yet they are in the last 16 and if they do click, you have to consider them massive contenders.