France vs Germany: 3 things we learned from titanic tussle

A mouth-watering clash was on hand as world champions France and Germany met on matchday one of the Euro 2020 tournament. Les Bleus, as we all know, came into this contest as the reigning World Cup winners, while die Mannschaft won the coveted prize in 2014. France were also be looking to make amends after their Euro 2016 loss, which saw them fall 1-0 in the final to Portugal, and thus needed to start proceedings off well. Germany, for their part, were aiming to silence the growing chorus of critics that don’t believe die Mannschaft are still a fully top tier side.

Ultimately, France came out on top – albeit in rather unexpected fashion. And while the match didn’t have the goals galore some had hoped for, it was still an intriguing affair from start to finish.

Here are three key observations from France’s crucial win over Germany on matchday one.

Joachim Low’s decision to recall veterans backfires miserably

Eyebrows were certainly raised when Low decided to recall veterans like Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels back to the national team heading into this competition. Both players had been effectively told that there was no room for them in Germany’s new and improved set-up, yet Low suddenly changed his mind and decided to give them another run-out on the big stage.

So far, it seems like it’s backfired. Neither player was able to have a positive influence on the game, with Muller looking lost and out of place and Hummels being the ultimate deciding factor on the game’s result – and in a rather embarrassing way. The 32-year-old defender now joins Juventus’s Merih Derimal as another player to score an own goal during this competition. Unfortunately for Hummels, it also ended up being the sole goal of the match, leaving Germany with zero points and a mountain to climb as they’ll also have to face Portugal in this same quartet.

Karim Benzema a welcome addition to France’s already fearsome line-up

It’s been six years since Karim Benzema has featured in a France kit since being implicated in a videotaping blackmail scandal involving former teammate Mathieu Valbuena. But after consistently firing in the goals for Real Madrid, season after season, and winning a handful of Champions League league trophies along the way, Benzema received a recall to the France squad after his exile. Some questioned Didier Deschamps’s decision – but it’s clearly been a masterstroke.

Benzema has a point to prove, and is a welcome addition to a France squad already bursting at the seams with talent. That was clearly evidenced in his display against Germany, where he looked lively and active throughout. Were it not for an offside call, he would’ve scored his first goal since October 2015, when he netted a brace against Armenia in a friendly. And with him in the squad, France’s attack, which boasts the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Olivier Giroud has become an even more threatening factor in this competition.

The normally calm and cool Germany lose the plot

During the first half, there was an off-the-ball incident involving Antonio Rudiger and Paul Pogba. The two players, who feature for Chelsea and Manchester United respectively, are certainly familiar with each other from their various battles in the Premier League. What was said, we will never know, but fans observed Pogba reacting angrily after Rudiger came up behind him and appeared to open his mouth near his back.

It was reminiscent of the Luis Suarez and Giorgio Chiellini incident at the 2014 World Cup, during which the Atletico Madrid striker did take a bite out of the Juventus defender’s shoulder. In this case, Rudiger wasn’t sanctioned as the referee apparently didn’t pick up anything. He was fortunate, as that would have been a huge blow to an already rattled German side. What made this flashpoint even more shocking is it’s not something expected from a Germany national team player. Die Mannschaft have built their reputation on being cool, calm, and ruthless. Not losing the plot especially in such a crunch clash – and on home turf as well.

As things stand, Portugal and France are joint-tied on points on top of Group H. Germany, meanwhile, were very fortunate for two offside calls against Mbappe and Benzema to keep the score-line 1-0; otherwise, they would find themselves in even worse trouble ahead of their next game. Les Bleus now will take on Hungary, and given how Portugal eventually dispatched them, it’s pretty safe to say that France should have no problems picking up six points there.

Germany, however, are in major trouble. A loss to Portugal will make qualification difficult, even if they, as expected, do beat Hungary. A draw may be sufficient to help them to the round of 16 as a third-placed side, depending on goal differential and if they can crush Hungary. But given the way they played against France, there are more questions now than answers as to whether Germany have it within them to reestablish themselves among the world’s elite.