I'd like to know the English equivalent for that French expression/concept. Serial loser? Here's the thing.
If A is the 'bete noire' of B, it means A is always beating B, even when A seems better. The 'bete noire' thing is like a curse.
The beautiful thing with 'betes noires' is that it is NOT logical or transitive.
If A BNs B and B BNs C, then A is not necessarily a BN for C. Clear huh ? The triangle FR/IT/DE is very much like that. Over the last 25 years, FR beats Italy, Italy beats DE, but DE beats FR (though we did not play since 1986).
The chart below is based on results in final tournaments - eg the 'friendly' French wins or the legendary 5-1 win of UK over DE does not count...
If the 'theory' was right, the outcome of a tournament would depend entirely upon the draw - whether or not you are to face your 'bete noire'.
So the conclusion is: thank you Italy for beating our BN Germany .....
