News, reaction and analysis
Anyway, that’s it for tonight’s blog. I’ll leave you with Sid Lowe’s report from Munich - night!
There is a bit of talk about Rudiger biting Pogba just before half-time. I missed it, but it’s all over the usual channels. It doesn’t look like much to me, though I have been watching a lot of True Blood lately.
What's happened there between Rudiger and Pogba?! 🧐#FRAGER | #ITVFootball | #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/Oi2Mm7RV7z
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 15, 2021
The decisive goal, or rather own goal, was scored by Mats Hummels, who had a pretty miserable night against Kylian Mbappe. Karim Benzema and Mbappe also had goals disallowed for offside in the second half. But France’s real stars were in midfield - in very different ways, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Adrien Rabiot were superb.
Germany were purposeful at times, desperate at others, and might need to think about whether their 3-4-3 system gets the best out of certain players. Yet they still had enough chances to draw the game, and I’d be loath to bury them. As Hugh McIlvanney once wrote, they could be very awkward revenants.
Full time: France 1-0 Germany
Peep peep! The world champions start their campaign with an assured victory in Munich. There wasn’t a huge amount in it but France were a bit smoother, a bit calmer, and won the game without really getting out of second gear.
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90+4 min Rabiot is replaced by Ousmane Dembele. Talking of which.
“Rabiot has been brilliant,” says Kári Tulinius. “He marked Havertz out of the game, and has generally been the stone in Germany’s shoe for the whole game.”
90+3 min “So one of the favourites only wins thanks to an own goal,” says Lizz Poulter. “Not a devastating display of form.”
You don’t always get the full picture when doing an MBM, because half the match is spent looking at a computer screen, but I think France have looked terrific against a German side who will surprise a few people in the next fortnight.
90+1 min The pictures are back, and a groggy Adrien Rabiot is receiving treatment. There are six minutes of added time, though it should be seven or eight now because of this stoppage.
ITV HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!
89 min They’ve gone to an Alipay advert mid-match!
89 min Corentin Tolisso comes on replace Karim Benzema, who was fairly quiet but produced enough high-class touches on his return to competitive international football.
88 min Sane curls a poor effort miles over the bar.
88 min The free-kick is 22 yards out, just infield from the right edge of the area.
87 min Muller’s cross hits the raised arm of Rabiot just outside the area. Before the free-kick is taken, Germany bring on Emre Can and Kevin Volland for Ginter and Gosens.
NO GOAL! France 1-0 Germany
Clean, clinical and fractionally offside.
VAR check for offside! Pogba turned on the halfway line and put Mbappe clear in the inside-right channel. He moved into the area and slid the ball across to give Benzema a tap-in at the far post. Clean and clinical.
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GOAL! France 2-0 Germany (Benzema 85)
Game over, and I don’t fancy anyone else’s chances in the tournament.
84 min Germany have had more possession, more shots and more corners - but France have been the better team. They look scary, not least because they haven’t really got out of second gear.
80 min Hummels took the ball but he went through Mbappe’s legs to do so. In the modern game, I think that’s a penalty. There was no VAR intervention though. I suppose you could argue that it wasn’t a clear and obvious error; personally I think it was.
80 min Bringing Mats Hummels out of international retirement at the age of 32, to face Kylian Mbappe, is a human rights violation.
78 min: Big shout for a France penalty! Pogba finds Mbappe, who plays the ball off to Benzema in the centre circle. He knows he can’t control it with defenders close to him so he improvises (I think) an ingenious first-time push into the abundant space behind the defence. Mbappe again destroys Hummels, who had a five-yard start, and moves into the area. Then he cuts across Hummels, who makes a desperate tackle from the side. Mbappe goes down, the referee moves his whistle towards his mouth... and then doesn’t blow it. Hummels definitely got the ball, but whether he came through Mbappe to do so is the issue. We haven’t seen a replay yet.
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76 min A decent cross on the turn from Kimmich is claimed by Lloris. France haven’t quite declared at 1-0, but it’s fair to say a second goal is no longer their priority.
75 min “If Werner had been picked ahead of Gnabry,” begins Ian Copestake, “I guess Germany would still be playing with a false nine! I’m here all week. Try the schnitzel.”
Normally I wouldn’t allow cheap digs at such an admirable footballer, but the comic timing of that jaunty exclamation mark was too good.
74 min A double change for Germany: Werner, Sane replace Gnabry and Havertz.
72 min There’s a break in play because of what looks like a muscle injury to Ginter.
71 min This is a good spell for Germany, probably their best of the match. Timo Werner and Leroy Sane are about to come on.
69 min “Pavard just got knocked out (actually knocked out) and he’s still on,” says Frazier Stroud. “Genuinely dangerous that he’s still playing.”
I was so busy typing that I didn’t really see whether he was out cold, but the broader point, that head injuries aren’t taken seriously enough, is undeniable. It’s getting better, though not quickly enough.
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66 min: Mbappe has a goal disallowed for offside! Ach, that’s a shame as it was a beautiful finish. Pogba reversed a majestic angled pass over the defence to Mbappe, who twisted his man inside out, then inside again before shaping a curler into the net off the far post. At that moment the flag went up, and replays confirmed he was offside when he received the pass from Pogba.
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66 min Benzema cuts inside from the left and hits a rasping shot that is blocked.
64 min “As an entry in the annals of best-ever, what are your opinions on Makelele vs. Kante?” says Peter Turner. “Are they comparable players? Who was better? I never really got to see Makelele play. And who else should be considered?”
Makelele was much better at the deliberately clumsy foul. Kante’s tackles are much cleaner in both senses. My feeling is that Makelele was more consistent over a longer period, but at his peak Kante is superior. That said, there are folk who will have seen much more of them than I have.
The greatest defensive midfielder of all time is Obdulio Varela, but that’s another story.
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61 min Pavard is going to continue.
60 min Pavard is still down, and in the current climate I’m surprised Gosens hasn’t been at least booked. It was vaguely reminiscent of, yep, Schumacher and Battiston. Pavard still has all his teeth but he may have to go off with either concussion or a jaw problem.
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58 min Kimmich’s brilliant clipped cross is almost met by the flying Gosens, who arrives like a desperate superhero at the far post. Pavard heads it clear and is smashed in the face either by the knee or the hip of Gosens, who then falls over himself when he lands. A split-second later, Kroos’s long-range shot hits Gosens in the six-yard box. That wouldn’t have counted as Gosens had been rightly penalised for the challenge on Pavard.
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58 min At times Germany have been a bit of a mess in this game, yet they could still have scored three or four. There’s a moral in that story, though I’ve no idea what it is.
57 min Gnabry runs onto Kimmich’s angled through ball from the right. He tries to go round the outrushing Lloris, who clears the ball with his thigh as he slides towards Gnabry. That was a crucial touch, without which Germany would have surely been given a penalty.
56 min Benzema pinches the ball off Kimmich and immediately plays it in behind for Mbappe on the left. He is unusually indecisive and the attacks peters out. Moments later, Muller’s snapshot is crucially blocked by a defender, Varane I think.
54 min: Great chance for Gnabry! Gosens breaks down the left and crosses deep to the unmarked Gnabry. He slightly mishits a volley into the ground that bounces over Lloris and onto the roof of the net. It should be 1-1, or 2-1 with Rabiot’s goal, it’s up to you.
52 min: Rabiot hits the post! It should be 2-0. Mbappe comes infield to receive possession, turns and flicks a gorgeous pass with the outside of the right foot to release Rabiot in the inside-left channel. He moves into the area, hesitates slightly and then curls a shot that hits the outside of the near post. He was under pressure by the time he had the shot but he should still have scored, or squared the ball for Griezmann to do so.
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50 min Germany’s bench includes Timo Werner and Leroy Sane. They could also, as discussed, bring on someone like Lukas Klostermann and move Kimmich into midfield. They need to do something because at the moment France are in control.
48 min “I just can’t understand the roles of Kroos and Gundogan,” says Yash Gupta. “They need a Rodri/Casemiro type player beside them to succeed which can be played by Kimmich but he’s on right side. Too many times their left wing back thought of putting a cross in before realising not enough men to attack in the box. It’s not that Germany has played badly, but seeing the sight of Muller and Havertz occupying the same area, much like other midfielders, makes me wonder if a striker would be ideal to sort the midfield out.”
Pep just can’t resist tinkering in these big games, can he?
47 min Mbappe runs at a palpably terrified Hummels, twisting him one way and then the other before slightly overrunning the ball. In the end Hummels did well to force him wide, but there was a moment during the attack when, if I was Hummels, I’d have been sorely tempted to run straight off the field, down the tunnel, out of the ground and straight into permanent international retirement.
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46 min Peep peep! France begin the second half.
“I’m curious about Gavin’s message earlier (44 min),” says Hussain Cheema. “Did you have a look? Was Pogba’s pass intentional or not.”
I did. I still think he meant it, though I see what Gavin is saying. I just think he’s too good to misplace a pass as badly as that, and I think his little jump was more excitement than frustration with Mbappe. But only Pog knows.
“I can tell you that my French colleagues still discuss Battiston and Schumacher to this day,” says Chris Drew. “It still rankles. A lot.”
No offence, but as somebody who grew up in England, I find that a bit embarrassing.
“If only,” says Stuart Jenkinson, “there was a word to describe the pleasure derived from watching a highly accomplished, World-Cup winning defender score a Sunday-league-clogger own goal.”
Half-time reading
Half time: France 1-0 Germany
Peep peep! The world champions lead through Mats Hummels’ unfortunate own goal. After a slow start, France were the more relaxed, authoritative side. Paul Pogba was excellent, and made the goal with a majestic/overhit pass, while N’Golo Kante was a disgraceful affront to centuries of human imperfection. Germany were a little more frantic, yet they still played pretty well and had chances to equalise. The second half won’t be dull.
45+1 min One minute of added time.
45 min Kante is such a fascinating player. I can’t recall a defensive midfielder, ever, with his combination of speed, reading of the game, equanimity and clean tackling.
44 min “I’m pretty sure Pogba meant that pass for Mbappe,” says Gavin. “You could see he was about to curse himself before the ball reached Hernandez.”
That’s interesting, I’ll have a proper look at half-time. I learned the hard way at school that, when you mishit a cross from 40 yards out, you shouldn’t put up your hand in apology a split-second before it sails over the keeper’s head into the net.
43 min Kante is having another ridiculous game. While I was trying to describe the last two incidents, he made two or three interceptions that nobody on the else on the planet would have managed.
41 min Pavard’s cross is taken down on the chest by the unmarked Benzema at the near post, but his touch is slightly too heavy and that ruins any chance of a shot. Instead he lobs the ball back across the area and it’s cleared. For a player with Benzema’s lightness of touch (can a footballer have a velvet chest? They can now!) that was half a chance.
40 min Kimmich, who is on a yellow card, accidentally kicks Hernandez in the face as they wrestle for a loose ball. Hernandez goes down holding his face, but it doesn’t get the desired red card for Kimmich.
38 min: Chance for Gundogan! Gosens’ cross from the left takes a deflection and bounces towards Gnabry at the near post. He improvises an ingenious overhead flick to Gundogan, who bobbles a first-time shot well wide from 12 yards. Pogba did just enough to put him off but it was still a decent chance.
36 min Mbappe destroys Hummels in the inside-left channel, moves into the area and tries to pick out Benzema. Ginter makes a vital interception and knocks the ball behind for a corner. This is starting to look a bit ominous for Germany.
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35 min Varane gets France out of a bit of trouble with some adroit footwork on the edge of his own area.
33 min Germany need to do something about Pogba, who is getting far too much time to spray passes left and right.
31 min I don’t know why I’m telling you this, as it’s a given on recent form, but N’Golo Kante is having a brilliant game. So is Paul Pogba, which isn’t such a sure thing but is a pleasure to watch when it does happen. There isn’t a huge amount between the teams but France are playing with greater confidence and authority.
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28 min “What a pass from Pogba!!” says Ruth Purdue. It really was gorgeous.
27 min Germany have responded really well to going behind. Muller is fouled by Pogba 25 yards from goal. This time the free-kick is fractionally to the right of centre... and Kroos bends it over the bar.
25 min Kroos’s free-kick hits a leaping French player in the wall.
24 min Kante is penalised for a tackle on Gundogan 22 yards from goal. The free-kick is just to the left of centre, perfect for Toni Kroos.
23 min Hummels scored the only goal when Germany beat France in the World Cup quarter-final seven years ago. It’s a nightmare for him, especially after such a high-profile recall, but it was a great ball from Pogba and a really awkward cross by Hernandez.
22 min Germany almost equalise straight away, with Gosens’ cross headed wide by the stretching Muller. It was fractionally too high for him.
Pogba opened Germany up with a flipped crossfield pass to Hernandez on the left side of the area. He hammered the bouncing ball across the face of goal towards Mbappe, six yards out. Hummels got in front of Mbappe but couldn’t adjust his feet quickly enough and shinned it into the roof of his own net.
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GOAL! France 1-0 Germany (Hummels og 20)
Mats Hummels gives France the lead!
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20 min After a sluggish start France look relaxed and confident. And now...
17 min France are starting to show their class. Mbappe zips infield from the left, beats Ginter with ease and smashes a shot towards the far corner. Neuer gets down smartly to his left to punch it round the post.
16 min: Chance for Pogba! Griezmann flashes an inswinging corner towards the six-yard line, where Pogba gets in front of Rudiger but then mistimes his header and shoulders the ball over the bar. That looked an excellent chance.
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15 min After good play from Kante, Pavard’s dangerous low cross is put behind at the near post by the stretching Ginter.
15 min Ruth Purdue (7.49pm) knows. It’s extremely cagey.
13 min This happened before the game, though I don’t think they showed it on the TV coverage.
Jesus. Protester has just parachuted in. Nearly crashed into fans here in the stadium. Saw something with Greenpeace on his parachute.
— Archie Rhind-Tutt (@archiert1) June 15, 2021
Smacked into a big line overhead. Managed to just steer it out of the fans and land on the pitch. Then taken away by security. pic.twitter.com/Dz1UHASD9O
OMG!!! Zum Glück ist nichts passiert… Schockstarre… pic.twitter.com/FYcZQFilT9
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) June 15, 2021
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11 min It’s all pretty cagey, especially from France.
9 min “There seems to be a general assumption that three teams in this group will go through to the next round,” says Mary Waltz. “The loser of this match could easily lose to Portugal, and even though beating Hungary is a lock it could be a 1-0 result the way Hungary bunkers down. Three points doesn’t guarantee passage to next round, or does it?”
It doesn’t. At Euro 2016, two teams (Portugal, Northern Ireland) went through with three points and two (Albania, Turkey) went home.
8 min France’s formation is slightly different to the one we excepted (and to the official team graphic they put out on social media, the lying Tweeters). It’s a fluid 4-3-3, with Griezmann to the right and Mbappe to the left of Benzema.
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7 min Kimmich is booked for a late tackle on his clubmate Lucas Hernandez.
6 min A quick throw finds Havertz on the move in the area, but the ball bounces up awkwardly and he can’t control it on the chest. His movement was excellent though.
5 min Germany have started like the home side, having almost all of the possession in the first five minutes. France haven’t yet settled, but they will.
4 min Kroos’s free-kick from the right is headed over by Hummels, 10 yards out. It was a quarter chance at best.
3 min Germany’s front three looks very fluid, with Muller, in particular, invading whatever space he likes.
1 min France have started with the Pogba to the right of Kante and Rabiot to the left. Germany have Gnabry as the false nine and Muller playing from the left.
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1 min Peep peep! Germany kick off from right to left. Both teams are in their home strips - Germany in white, France in blue.
“If I’ve understood my wallchart correctly, these are the last two teams on show,” says Charles Antaki. “So far nobody has put an absolute seal on being obvious contenders, so France or Germany could stick themselves up on the leaderboard. Or collapse in a dismal show of ineptitude, that’s always possible.”
There’s also every chance one of these teams will be playing England at Wembley in the last 16. Even as a neutral, that brings me out in gulps.
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Here come the players: France, the designated home side, go first, followed by Germany. On ITV, Clive Tyldesley starts with a cracking statistic: 19 of the 22 players starting this game have won the World Cup and/or the Champions League. This really is elite group-stage association football.
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“I hope this game is like the highly enjoyable craziness of that Portugal and Netherlands game years ago,” says Ruth Purdue. “I doubt it will be and probably will be cagey.”
That game certainly wasn’t cagey, though some of the players could have ended up behind bars. Honk!
“You’re right that it’s difficult to pick a winner of this tournament (which is a good thing),” says Simon McMahon. “But I can’t get out of my head one team who could win it, and one team that definitely won’t (a bad thing, if you’re a Scotland fan).”
I wouldn’t worry. There’s about as much chance of England winning it as there is of Dundee United winning every single game they’ve ever played against Barcel-oh.
The tactical battle will be fascinating: France’s diamond against Germany’s 3-4-3. On the face of it, Germany should be overwhelmed in the centre of midfield but I’d imagine Muller (or Gnabry if he plays on the left with Muller as the false nine) and Havertz will drop in when France have the ball.
“Low needs to play Kimmich in the centre of midfield to give Germany a chance,” says David Brennan. “Sticking him on the right is a bad move. Gundogan and Kroos is a bit lightweight.”
I’m not sure Kimmich is a heavyweight, though he is a genuinely great midfielder. Who would you play at right wing-back though?
“Not sure we should automatically expect the holders of the World Cup and the No2-ranked team to win,” says Lizz Poulter. “Word on the street seems to be that there’s a lot of disharmony in the French dressing room. I’m managing my disappointment early.”
I think France will win the tournament, but they could easily do a Germany 2018 or a France 2002. I’ll let you into a secret: nobody has a clue.
Hungary 0-3 Portugal was the final score in the early game, though that doesn’t really tell the story of the game. All three goals came in the last eight minutes, two from the record-breaking Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Team news
Karim Benzema plays at a major tournament for the first since France’s team 1-0 defeat to Germany in the World Cup quarter-final seven years ago. Germany’s recallees (is that a word? It is now!) Mats Hummels and Thomas Muller also start.
France (4-D-2) Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez; Kante; Pogba, Rabiot; Griezmann; Benzema, Mbappe.
Substitutes: Mandanda, Maignan, Lenglet, Lemar, Giroud, Dembele, Tolisso, Zouma, Digne, Coman, Ben Yedder, Kounde.
Germany (3-4-3) Neuer; Rudiger, Hummels, Ginter; Kimmich, Gundogan, Kroos, Gosens; Havertz, Gnabry, Muller.
Substitutes: Leno, Trapp, Halstenberg, Volland, Werner, Sule, Klostermann, Neuhaus, San, Emre Can, Koch, Gunter.
Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain).
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of France v Germany in Munich. This is a semi-final dressed up as a group game. The most famous matches between these two - 1982, 1986, 1982, 2016, 1982, NINETEEN EIGHTY TWO - have all been for a place in the final of the World Cup or European Championship. This match, the first time they have ever met in the group stages, is a rare treat - football’s equivalent of Radiohead playing the John Peel Stage on Friday afternoon.
France are both the world champions and the best team in the world. But we said that about Germany before Russia 2018 and they embarrassed themselves, so anything’s possible, especially in a group of death. Paul Doyle, peerless as ever, makes the case both for and against France in this article.
Germany have not been in the top 10 of the Fifa rankings since that World Cup fiasco. Their recent form, depending on your perspective, has been laughably bad or ominously bad. They lost 6-0 to shot-shy Spain in the Nations League, and were also beaten at home by North Macedonia. But they plugged Latvia 7-1 in their final warm-up game, and Joachim Low has a star-studded squad for his final assignment as Germany manager.
So does Didier Deschamps. Tonight a football field will be shared by, among others, Kylian Mbappe, Joshua Kimmich, Karim Benzema, Serge Gnabry, N’Golo Kante, Toni Kroos, Paul Pogba, Thomas Muller, Antoine Griezmann and Kai Havertz. In a group game!
Kick off 8pm in London, 9pm in Munich and Paris.
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