Didier Deschamps without key duo for France friendlies

Didier Deschamps has left both Mathieu Valbuena and Karim Benzema out of his squad for France's international friendlies with Germany and England later his month.

Real Madrid striker Benzema has been placed under formal investigation in France in connection with an inquiry into an alleged attempt to blackmail Valbuena over a sex tape. 

Benzema has also been placed under judicial supervision, which means he cannot meet with the victim or other people involved with the case, precluding both players from being in the same squad during the investigation. 

Deschamps told a news conference he would not answer "questions not related to football", but added that Valbuena, who played in Lyon's 2-0 home defeat by Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday, was not in an emotional state to play.

"You can easily understand that he's not in the right psychological state to play given this affair," Deschamps said. "So I've taken the decision to give him a breather."

With two of his key players missing, Deschamps has recalled Hatem Ben Arfa, who has seven goals in 12 matches for Nice in Ligue 1 but has not played for his country since Euro 2012. 

Ben Arfa had a difficult relationship with Deschamps while playing under him at Marseille, when he refused to train in forcing a move to Newcastle.

With Benzema absent, Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has his chance to impress when France take on Germany at the Stade de France on November 13 before traveling to London to face England four days later, but West Ham's Dimitri Payet and Chelsea's Kurt Zouma have missed out.

France squad: Costil, Lloris, Mandanda, Digne, Evra, Jallet, Koscielny, Mangala, Sagna, Sakho, Varane, Cabaye, Diarra, Matuidi, Pogba, Schneiderlin, Sissoko, Ben Arfa, Coman, Gignac, Giroud, Griezmann, Martial