France edge past Germany in their first Euro 2020 encounter

It was the last match of the first match week of the tournament and it could not have been a bigger encounter as the last two winners of the World Cup faced each other at Munich. France were given the tag of being pre-tournament favourites while many didn’t fancy Germany to do particularly well at the finals.

France were setup in a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Adrien Rabiot joining Kante and Pogba in the midfield while Karim Benzema was preferred over Olivier Giroud up front. Joachim Loew decided to use the 3-4-2-1 formation with Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens as the wing backs. Both veterans Mats Hummels and Thomas Muller featured from the start.

Les Bleus were eager to start the tournament with a win to assert their dominance. Both teams were respecting each other during the first 10-15 minutes and it was an intriguing affair. France took the lead in the 20th minute after a Lucas Hernandez cross was met by Mats Hummels shin which helped the ball into the net.

Manuel Neuer, who is keen on winning the Euros this time around, was visibly frustrated by the concession and punched the ball back in the net. The rest of the first half didn’t have any notable events.

In the second half, Germany were much more adventurous in possession as both Kimmich and Gosens were given the license to bomb forward. Robin Gosens put in a delicious cross but Serge Gnabry’s shot was just above the crossbar. Due to the spaces left behind, Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot was through on goal but hit the bar.

Just after the hour mark, Kylian Mbappe beautifully tucked the ball inside the right side of the post, but he was adjudged offside. France scored another goal just 5 minutes from full time but Karim Benzema’s joy was cut short as VAR had to intervene to chalk off the goal.

Germany had a lot of possession, especially in the second half but lacked bite in the final third which France had in abundance. Despite their best efforts, Germany couldn’t find an equaliser and match ended in a 1-0 win for Les Bleus.